Tempest of the Fae
by D.Mentor
Summary: A basic rule of time, it will fight change. Harry, Hermione and Luna return to stop Voldemort thanks to the last of the fae. But they are not alone and time will not bend to their will easily. They will fight, they will prank and they will not be controlled. Dumbledore, Ron and Molly bashing. Response to Paladeus's challenge "Champions of Lilith"
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: This story is in response to ****Paladeus **Challenge 11: "The Fairy Queen's Personal Army"**. I've had the idea for a while and decided to work on it when I take a break from The Twisted Wand. Because I have received many reviews and PM's about it, the way Luna acts in the first few chapters will not be how she acts throughout the story. If you do not like the way she acts early on keep reading and see if the way she is acting by chapter 10 isn't better.)**

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter One: Santa's last gifts

0-O-0

Hermione walked into the kitchen to find Harry Potter, her best friend and just about anything else you cared to name, tied to a chair and stripped to his boxers. He was glaring at the blond who stood by the counter, a large bowl in her hands and a look of concentration on her face. Hermione sighed; it looked like it would be one of _those_ days for Luna. "Luna dear, why did you tie up Harry?"

"Do I really need a reason?" Luna asked with a quick glance up from her bowl.

"I suppose not but I figure you have one anyways." Hermione grabbed a banana and began to peal it; she smirked at Harry as she did so. Luna must have silenced him as well because he only gave her a mock glare back.

"Well he didn't want to let me make pudding for breakfast. Clearly he's gone insane and is only useful to us now for the sex." Luna said as she set the bowl down and began to search for another ingredient.

"You mean he can't cook anymore either?" Hermione asked, trying to sound put out. They had found it was best to just play along with Luna when she became like this. Hopefully in a few hours she would be closer to normal.

Luna paused. "No, he can still cook. Cooking and sex."

Hermione ignored Harry as he made a noise of protest. "Sounds like one of your bad novels. You know he'll get you back when you release him."

"Oh I hope so." Luna shot Harry a seductive grin before she returned to the bowl. When the pudding was finished Luna released Harry.

He summoned his clothes and quickly dressed. Then as Luna was about to take the first bite of her breakfast he waved his wand and the ropes that had bound him jumped up to wrap around her. Luna was pulled back against the chair, her bowl taunting her from the edge of the table. "Harry!"

"Just a little revenge." Harry said as he turned to dig through the cold cupboard for the bacon.

Luna began to rock back and forth, leaning forward on each attempt as far as she could. The bowl was just out of reach. Harry shot a sticking charm at the chair legs, Luna jerked as the chair's motion was suddenly stopped. Despite her best efforts it refused to budge. "Hermione!"

"You brought it on yourself. Must you two play in the kitchen?" Hermione asked, though she did enjoy their light hearted games. They were a good distraction. Well when Luna was just playing. The loss of her father had hit her hard and the blonde had never fully recovered.

"Must we? Probably not but why risk it." Harry said. He then began to make himself and Hermione a real breakfast. While Luna could survive on nothing but sweets the other two preferred a bit of real food now and then; and he defiantly wanted a full breakfast for what he had planned for the day. Hunting Death Eaters should never be undertaken on an empty stomach.

0-O-0

That evening Harry stepped into Potter Manor and collapsed onto a couch. He'd barely set down before Luna was on his lap curled against him. He and Hermione had agreed some time ago that Luna had to be part cat. Of course that conversation had arisen from the fact that if they didn't find other things for her to do she'd spend time most nights running around, thankfully between the two of them they were able to distract her. Not that either of them really considered distracting her a burden, they enjoyed it too.

Luna leaned up and kissed him. "How did it go?"

"Not good, there were only new recruits out; no one worth going after." Harry said as he reached down and stroked Luna hair. Normally she and Hermione would have gone with him to scout out Serpents Alley, England's new, and only, magical shopping district. However both were still recovering from injuries received the previous month.

"Maybe next time then." Luna mumbled in to his chest. What neither would say was that it had been over a year since they had managed to take anyone important to Voldemort's operation.

Hermione walked into the room, drying her hands on a towel. "Alright you two, up. Dinners ready."

Harrys head jerked up and he looked questioningly at Luna. He loved them, he truly did but neither could cook. Luna's definition of edible, at least beyond sweets, was questionable. And Hermione just could not cook; make a complex potion with her eyes closed? Sure, she'd won a few bets doing that. Boil noodles? No sir.

Luna smiled. "Take out."

"Thank Merlin." Harry whispered.

"Actually thank Dr. Lingling's Chinese takeout." Hermione said as she pulled Luna off of Harry, and then helped him up.

0-O-0

After dinner Luna begged until they agreed to play Quibbler with her. It was based off of a muggle trading card game she had found when they still lived in London. She painted magical images of creatures from her late father's magazine and assigned them health and attacks. Over the years she had expanded the game to several hundred cards in all. Of course since she _made_ the cards, in nearly every game they played she had some surprise for them.

Luna had once tried to craft figurines for the game, when that failed she had settled for small illusions tied to each card. Quibbler had proved a welcome distraction for them from the war and the winner's prize was nothing to sneeze at either. Actually even the loser never complained about giving the winner their reward. Though Luna had been known to play dirty, such as removing her clothes in strictly non-strip games. After that time Luna had begun to make her cards impervious to liquids.

As they sat at the table Luna pulled out her newest deck. "Normal strip rules? An article of clothing for every hundred points lost then favors?"

"That depends." Hermione said as she gave Luna a critical eye. "How many clothes are you wearing?"

The first time Luna had suggested strip Quibbler Hermione was convinced it was because she was wearing a different amount of clothes than them, well she was it just turned out to be less. To this day they had never finished a game of strip Quibbler.

"I'm wearing the necessities." Luna said, when Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow she elaborated. "Necessities for other people; I know how much you two like to drag it out."

"Alright." Hermione said.

Luck was with Harry and he drew his Snorkark early into the game. Within three rounds Hermione had lost her socks, Luna had lost her socks and earrings. Harry had almost gotten Hermione's shirt off as well but she'd been saved by one of 'Fudge's old time Goblin Pies'. Then on Luna's next turn she drew her card and began her evil laugh. It would have put any muggle supper villain to shame and fit right in on a Saturday morning cartoon. "The game is mine, I play, Santa!"

She threw the card onto the table, and a cloud of soot rolled out of the chimney. Instantly Harry, Hermione, and Luna had their wands out. The three wands were trained on the opening of the fireplace as something moved within the chimney. The fireplace wasn't connected to the floo; in fact it was warded against such travel. It wouldn't even expand enough to let someone through, instead it was supposed to contract. Still, as they watched the opening seemed to grow and a pair of black boots appeared. They kicked as whoever they were attached to struggled to free themselves.

Suddenly the fireplace yawned open as a short round thing rolled out. Honestly its appearance reminded Harry of a young Dudley, at least in weight. The white bread ruined that image. The red suit was a bit confusing as well, not good for sneaking around in.

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "Luna I know you want to make your cards more realistic but honestly, give us a warning or something?"

"That one isn't mine. This one is mine." Luna said as she gestured down to the three inch tall Santa on the table next to her card that appeared to be flexing.

"But that means..." Hermione started, she never got to finish as Luna pounced on the intruder.

"Hey now, ow I'm still attached to that, no, ow." The figure said as Luna finally claimed the bag that had rolled out after him and jumped back.

Hermione looked between Luna and the intruder. "Luna?"

"It's alright, it's just Santa." Luna said as she began to struggle with the thick knot holding the bag closed.

"But you said…" Hermione started again.

"I said he wasn't mine. He's the real Santa." Luna explained absently, most of her attention of the bag as her tongue stuck out in concentration.

"And you're the real Luna, no one else is ever rude enough to tackle me and steal my bag like that. Really I thought you would have learned after last time." Santa said as he stood and dusted himself off.

"Last time?" Harry questioned. His kept his wand raised but relaxed his aim.

Luna pouted. "Santa was mean to me."

"Was not! At twelve she somehow managed to get the drop on me, literally. She was crouching on the mantel when I arrived; only a few children in the world can even see me so I was understandable surprised. Then she tried to crawl into my bag!" Santa said.

"I was trying to get my presents, and a ride to the North Pole. I had it all planned out too, Butterbeer for the reindeer so they take me to your secret workshop. I'd charm Mrs. Claus, bribe the elves with cookies and promise vacations to the yetis." Luna explained.

"Have you ever sent a yeti on vacation? It's not easy. Last time they went to Florida and now they have a whole legend around them, call 'em Sunk Apes. Apparently a few of them partied too hard and passed out in the swamp." Santa retorted.

"Well there was no need for you to curse me afterwards." Luna said with all the dignity of a five year old.

"It wasn't that bad." Santa waved off her complaint.

"Not that bad! I couldn't play in the snow for the rest of winter! It all melted as soon as I touched it! Daddy thought I had caught Jamaican fever." Luna said.

Harry and Hermione traded glances, each wondering if they'd been potioned. This couldn't be real, even with Luna. Finally Luna succeeded in opening the bag, but pouted when she realized the only thing inside was a rolled up parchment. "Where are the gifts?"

"What powers my bag?" Santa asked patiently.

"Fairy magic of course." Luna replied.

"Exactly, so if it is empty that means?" Santa prompted.

Luna took a step back and began to shake, immediately Harry pulled her to him. "But, but then that means…"

"Sadly yes. Fairy magic is all but gone." Santa's solemn voice rang hallow with regret.

"Will someone explain what's going on?" Hermione demanded.

"Yes, yes I suppose I should." Santa walked over to the table and took Luna's seat. He reached out and played with the illusion of himself on the table. "You see Hermione the reason Luna is so upset is because my bag is powered by fairy magic, for it to be out means there's no more fairy magic, and for that to happen we would all have to be dead."

"You don't look dead." Hermione said, still she watched him with a critical eye. If Santa was real than a ghost Santa might not be too far off.

"I'm not, yet, though it will be soon. You see fairies are physical, we eat just like everyone else but our magic, our magic is separate from our physical bodies. It comes from good dreams, hopes of the future, a child's wonder, joy. One reason fairies were so attracted to Luna was that her carefree spirit was a feast for our magic. But now, now this war has consumed the world; there just isn't enough left to feed our magic. And without our magic we die." Santa leaned back and sighed. "Not to mention Voldemort has been capturing us and trying to find the source of our magic. Oh he never will. It's too far beyond his understanding to believe it comes from positive things like hope. Hasn't stopped him from killing us in an attempt to discover our secrets though." Santa said. With a wave of his hand the small illusion of him disappeared, alone with the rest of the cards.

Luna was sitting on Harrys lap and was almost in tears. "So you will all die?"

"Yes, one way or another. However you can give our death a meaning. And we can give all of you a chance." Santa said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Our queen, Lilith, has devised a plan. You see she, unlike the rest of us receives her power from her children. The more of us there are the more magic we have and the stronger she is. As it stands she will soon starve to death. So instead she wants to gather all of our remaining magic and have me make one last gift. Quantum Quartz. It is the same substance used in time turners." Santa explained.

"Time travel? But the paradoxes-." Hermione began before Santa held up a hand to silence her.

"The method of fairy time travel is a bit different than yours. Instead of there being two of you, the you that you are now will join with the you that you were. There will only be one, a combination of both. Hence no paradoxes." Santa said.

"So why us?" Harry said.

"Because we know of the prophecy, in fact I have already traveled back in time once. Trust me the future I came from was even worse than this one. Imagine a magical, nuclear holocaust; where nightmares themselves have been given life to torment the world; everything hidden under a poisons gloom the rotted the soul itself. Hardly anyone lasted even a year. Thankfully I was able to avoid that this time with a well-timed snowstorm and a roller skate. But I was unable to stop Voldemort, and we have discovered why. That prophecy has made _you_ Harry, and Voldemort, linchpins in time. Only you can stop him, hence why we are offering you this chance." Santa said, as he spoke they could almost see the horrors he spoke of. Harry reached out and put an arm around Hermione as Luna hid against his chest.

"How far back would we go?" Hermione said.

"I do not know. We can provide the Quantum Quartz and ritual to send you back but the power will decide how far and the size of the quartz will determine how many may go. I can make enough for the three of you only." Santa said. Really he could only make enough for two, but he'd stolen a bit of magic from some others. That and his life would provide the rest.

Hermione tried to work out the calculations in her head. "The further back the more power it takes, to get to a time when we can actually make changes and prevent the war would require. I can't even imagine how much magic."

"Well there is only one place in the country that has enough magic." Santa said. "Hogwarts."

"But Voldemort has controlled it for almost a decade." Harry said.

"Yes but I can get you in, to the Room of Requirements. Oh don't look like that I do know a few secrets still." Santa said to their astonished faces. "Once inside the room will protect you while you prepare for the ritual."

"Then we go back and stop this." Hermione said.

"Yes." Santa waved his hand and summoned his bag, it flew to him and he removed the rolled up parchment from inside passing it to Hermione. "The instructions are in there, take good care of it. It is one of my last gifts to give. Harry once we reach Hogwarts I will use our last magic to make the quartz you three will need. And little Luna, you will receive something you have long wanted. A ride in my sleigh."

Luna leapt out of Harry's lap and tackled Santa to the floor, his arms shot out as he tried to stop himself. "Ouch, do you have any idea just how old I am?"

"Sorry." Luna jumped up before pulling Santa off the ground.

"You realize we haven't agreed to anything yet right?" Harry said.

"But you will. You are all good and will take any chance to fix things. Besides I do have a secret weapon." Santa jerked his thumb towards Luna who was pouting at the thought of not getting her sleigh ride.

"Hermione?" Harry sighed.

"If we can save everyone, stop the war, go back." Hermione trailed off. She didn't need to continue, Harry knew she was thinking about her parents.

"Fine." Harry said.

"Excellent! Then we must hurry. Gather what you will need, you will not be returning." Santa said. Quickly the three humans left to get their bags, they were always prepared to make a run for it if need be.

Five minutes later they were back in the living room with their bags. Luna was bouncing in place, Harry smirked at her antics. "I haven't seen you this excited since you convinced Mr. Fortescue to try his hand at pudding when he took over the shop for his father."

"Mmm, that was good." Luna pouted as she remembered how that particular idea ended. "Still can't believe he banned me for life."

"Well you did try to break in and steal the recipe." Hermione pointed out.

"But he wouldn't give me anymore." Luna complained.

"It was ten at night and you'd already eaten all his stock." Hermione said.

"That's no excuse." Luna said. "Can we go for our ride now?"

Harry just shook his head. "Hold onto your reindeer."

Lune mock glared at him. "Maybe I will."

Santa looked them over. "Ready? Good."

He snapped his fingers. The sensation was confusing; there was the familiar pull of a portkey along with the disoriented spinning of the floo, and the sooty smell. The next moment the three of them were sitting in Santa's sleigh, Hermione and Luna on the bench, Harry upside down with his feet in the air. Santa appeared a moment later and frowned. "Hmm, fireplaces really do hate you, never seen that happen before."

Harry struggled to sit up and finally managed it. Luna bounced in her seat between them. The reindeer stamped the roof impatiently. Santa flicked the reins and with a jerk they took to the air. Hermione kept a tight grip on the sleigh. Harry and Luna had helped her deal with heights, she could stand them but she still wasn't particularly thrilled by them.

Luna on the other hand was even more excited now that they were in the air. She threw her hands up and yelled with joy. Harry turned to look at Potter Manor as they passed over Loch Troll. It appeared to be a five story log cabin, not even a summer home by pure blood standards because it simple wasn't grand enough; to them though it had been their home. There was the garden Hermione started as a distraction for them, and the Snorkark house Luna had built in case one ever wandered around while they were gone.

As they flew over southern Scotland Harry enjoyed the flight, it hadn't been safe to fly a broom over long distances in years. In the distance came to soft glow of fire. Another town destroyed by Death Eaters. As he watched the scenery Luna bolted past Santa and jumped onto the nearest reindeer. Before they could call out to her she had unhooked it and moved alongside the sleigh. Her evil laugh sounded even more intimidating when she was on a flying creature. She wrapped her arms around its neck and urged it on. The reindeer disappeared under the sleigh, when it came up on the other side it was upside down. Luna held on with her legs and grabbed Harrys head, planting a searing kiss on him before she moved to Hermione and squeezed her breast.

"She stole my reindeer!" Santa shouted.

"She stole a kiss." Harry said.

"She grabbed my breast!" Hermione said.

Together they sighed. "Luna."

Santa glared at Harry. "You know this is your fault right?"

"How's it my fault?"

"You just had to give her ideas. 'Hold your reindeer' indeed." Santa grumbled.

As they drew near Hogwarts Luna pulled her reindeer alongside the sleigh and jumped. Harry barely managed to catch her. The reindeer fell back inline, though it was no longer connected to them. "That was amazing! Harry can we get reindeer?"

"If you want." Harry said as he moved her over to the free seat. He had figured out long ago he couldn't say no to Luna or Hermione when they truly wanted something. It was easier to just agree and save time. They tensed as they reached Hogwarts ward line but they passed through without incident. Quietly they moved until they were hovering outside a window on the seventh floor. They all climbed inside, Santa waved his hand and the sleigh disappeared, the reindeer remained a moment before, with a sad look towards Santa, his loyal companions flew away.

They were only one hall away from the Room of Requirements. When they reached the proper spot Santa walked in front of the wall until the door appeared. "Alright, Hermione you still have the parchment? Good. Stand back and I will present my final gift."

"Santa?" Luna said.

"Yes my dear?" He said.

"Could you bag have ever, you know?" Luna asked.

"No, I am sorry but it could never have given you that." Santa said.

With tears in her eyes Luna nodded. Harry and Hermione each put an arm around her.

"One last thing, time does not like to be changed; so long as Voldemort is alive it will resist your changes, sometimes in improbable ways. But by the same method smaller things will constantly be different. Just because it happened one way the first time doesn't mean it will again even if you do everything the same. So don't be afraid to make changes but don't worry if not everything follows those changes right away. Oh and incase I forgot to mention it each person can only use this ritual once. You won't get a third chance." Santa closed his eyes and began to grow, magic swirled around him, and the entire castle seemed to vibrate with it. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out a fist sized lump of green quartz. He handed it to Harry before he began to fade. They watched until he was completely gone before they entered the room.

0-O-0

Santa was not completely gone yet though, he still had enough magic for a little fairy mischief. When Headmaster Snape woke in the morning and put on his shoes he found them filled with chunks of coal. The students suffered for that.

0-O-0

(A/N: This chapter was originally twice as long so I broke it up. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion.)


	2. Going back with a bang

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Two: Going back with a bang

0-O-0

Harry sat and stirred the caldron while Hermione and Luna carved runes into the stone floor. He truly thought they had pushed the Room of Requirements to it limits this time. It was now a cavernous space, several times larger than the great hall, where shadows crept in at the edges. The only warm spot in the massive room was the small area they had used as living space for the last week.

It was bare when you considered the room could provide just about anything they wanted. But they had all been so focused on their project they barely had time to eat. Not for the first time Harry wished he had taken ancient runes so he could help them carve out the ritual circles. Instead he had a far worse job. He sat there stirring a caldron, a caldron filled with their collective blood needed to bond the magic to them and act as a focus for the magic.

But no, Hermione and Luna said it was much more than just copying the symbols and refused to let him help them, so he was on potion duty. How so many instructions could fit on the parchment Santa gave them Harry couldn't figure out and went with the simple answer of magic.

Over the last week they had learned a great deal thanks to the room. Including that it could reproduce any book within the castle; this helped in a number of ways. Apparently Dumbledore had a stash of journals no one had found, they quickly read through them. Among his ramblings were disturbing plans for Harry to sacrifice himself to Voldemort. Perhaps the worst though was Dumbledore's theory that Harrys scar was a horocux and he would have to die to kill Voldemort.

That news had almost driven Luna and Hermione to find out if the room could revive a dead person just for them to be killed again. They had lost a day of work as Hermione and Luna comforted Harry and made him swear he wouldn't do anything stupid. They assured him it was only a theory Dumbledore had and even if it was true they'd figure out another way. Harry smiled as he remembered that night; they were both determined to remind him how much they loved him.

Sadly Snape was to paranoid to write much down but when she was bored Luna took to reading the journals of the professors and came across some interesting entries from their old classmate Draco. Apparently he was angry that Voldemort had gotten Pansy killed on a suicide mission against the British army.

This had led to an unlikely alliance between them. To power the ritual they needed to tie directly into the Hogwarts wards, they found the room could let them into the ward stone chamber but they still needed an outlet on their end for the magic. The simple solution was the Sorting Hat. It was tied to the school as well, but for some reason the room couldn't make a direct passage into the Headmaster's office. Hermione worked out it was because of a ward not directly tied to the school that Snape had added, paranoid bugger.

Luna had come up with the idea to enlist Draco's help in getting the Sorting Hat. So one night they had snuck into his chambers and stunned him. After questioning under veritaserum an understandable grumpy Draco had agreed to help on the condition that if they succeeded and went back they would save Pansy. They had also made him give an oath that he wouldn't relieve anything about their plan to anyone. They weren't completely stupid after all.

Now they just needed to wait for Draco to bring them the Sorting Hat.

As he checked the potion again Harry wondered if he could leave it long enough to sneak down to the kitchen, the room could make a passage there without a problem and the house elves all made sure not to see them when they made a food run; though some of their favorite foods always seemed to be in an out of the way corner just begging to be taken. Once again Harry made a mental note to never underestimate a house elf.

0-O-0

Luna yawned as she finished checking the last rune. They had been forced to brew the potion twice more before each rune had been filled in; and blood replenishing potion could only help so much. Their faces were drawn and waxy, cast in a sickly green by the light of the quartz, but they were almost ready.

A rabbit patronus appeared in the room. "Let me in, hurry."

Luna had found no end to her amusement when it was revealed that Draco had a rabbit patronus as well, though his was actually smaller than Luna's which Hermione had called a jackrabbit before. Harry moved to the door and opened it just enough for Draco to slip in.

"That was close." Draco said, his face was flush from running.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"I had a perfect opportunity to take it last night and took the chance. I was going to deliver it after classes today. Snape noticed it was missing around noon and sent everyone to search for it. Some crazy fifth years decided to try a point me spell and I barely managed to avoid them." Draco said as he pulled the Sorting Hat from under his robes.

"Finally! I may not need to breath but I don't enjoy being stuffed somewhere like that. And look, you've bent my brim!" The Sorting Hat complained.

Harry reached for it but Draco pulled it back. "You remember our agreement?"

"Yes. If this works we'll do everything we can to save her, you have our oaths." Harry said as he took the hat and passed it to Luna.

Draco looked at the complex rune circles that crisscrossed the floor. "And you're sure I can't come?"

Hermione sighed, that had been a big sticking point when enlisting Malfoys help. "Yes, there's is only enough Quantum Quartz to send three people back, and none of us are staying behind to trade places with you."

Luna threw an arm around Draco shoulder. "Don't worry bro we'll make sure Pansy lives."

With a grunt of disgust Draco threw off her arm. "I am not your brother."

This too had become common over the last few days. Luna loved to tease Draco ever since she saw his patronus. "Come on, blond hair, bunny patronus, you could be a long lost Lovegood."

"It is not a bunny! And I am a Malfoy, not a Lovegood." Draco shouted.

"Enough, Luna stop teasing your long lost brother." Hermione said.

Draco glared at her and gave an exasperated grunt. "How the bloody hell do you put up with them Potter?"

Harry shrugged, "What can I say I love them." He paused for a moment before he held out his invisibility cloak to Draco.

Draco looked at it skeptically. "What are you playing at Potter?"

"If we succeed then it won't matter but if we fail, this'll help you get away." Harry said.

Reluctantly Draco accepted the cloak. Harry felt a pang of loss as Draco left with it but reminded himself they couldn't take it with them. He walked over to the Sorting Hat. "Hermione explained what we need?"

"Yes, a very ambitious idea. I'll help. It beats being locked in the blasted glass case under a blanket again." The Sorting Hat grumbled.

Luna bent down and kissed the tip of the Sorting Hat. "Thank you. Is there anything we can do for you when we get back?"

"See if you can't get me out of the headmaster office more often. Listening to that old coot mumble to himself all day was so boring." The Sorting Hat said.

"You got it." Harry said.

Slowly the moved into their positions around the quartz. They took each other's hands. Hermione bit her lip "Last chance for us to back out."

"Why? There's nothing left for us now." Luna said.

Harry squeezed their hands. "If you ladies are ready? Parchment destroyed?"

They nodded. If they failed they didn't want there to be a chance for someone else to try this. Without magic the room itself should collapse so they didn't need to worry about that. Luna smiled at her two lovers. "You both remember the instructions for getting through my house's wards if we end up back during the summer?"

"We do, though its far more likely we'll arrive during the school year." Hermione said, than gave Harry a stern look. "And you, no trying advanced magic like apparating until we're all together. We don't know if our skills will carry back properly."

"I promise I won't go playing around unless it's an emergency." Harry said.

There was no complex command to activate the runes. They had settled on a simple phrase that would start the process once the command rune was charged, Hermione tapped her wand to the rune that would activate upon the phrase and set it. Together they spoke the command, they had agreed, if anything should go wrong they wanted it to be the last thing they heard. "I love you."

0-O-0

Snape sat in the Headmaster's office and stared at the empty glass case that once held the Sorting Hat. He had just reported its theft to the Dark Lord who was less than pleased. He needed to find the hat and whoever took it before Voldemort's arrival. But he didn't even know how long it had been missing as the case was normally covered under a thick blanket with silencing charms. The Dark Lord might have ordered him to keep the hat and bring it out every year at the start of opening feast to show how far they had come but he had never trusted the thing. It was the same reason he had permanently frozen all of the portraits on the wall. Well except for Dumbledore's, he had taken great pleasure in developing a way to torture it.

As he pondered what to do he felt the first alarms. While Hogwarts had never truly accepted him as Headmaster he was still in control of the schools wards. As such when they began to fall he was warned. Except they were falling from within!

He felt the entire school shake as its magic was drawn in on itself. Snape leapt from his desk and ran through a hidden door. A staircase led down to the very heart of Hogwarts; its ward stone. A coffin size slab etched with runes by the founders themselves. He barely needed a glance to see someone or something was siphoning off the schools magic. He reached out to stop it just as the magic reached the cascade point.

0-O-0

Since the return of Voldemort Hogsmeade had been a depressing place. More abandoned than inhabited now. Those that remained were awoken to the magical backlash from the castle. Glass shattered; charms and wards failed, butterbeer turned sour. As the backlash traveled further away homes hidden by magic were revealed again. No one had seen anything like it since the destruction of the Ministry of Magic.

0-O-0

Voldemort sat in the Headmaster office. He had been displeased when he was informed that Snape had lost the Sorting Hat. It had been a symbol. No longer was the school divided into four houses, only the house of his might ancestor remained, as it should be. Where once a ratty hat was entrusted to know where to place students they now all fit comfortably into the single house of Slytherin. Its loss was a slap to his face. His anger had grown as he traveled. Now he was furious. Upon his arrival he had found Snape's body, what was left. It was charred and mangled on the floor in front of his desk. How had it happened? Were there traitors among the students or staff? Had the theft of the Sorting Hat been a ruse?

He had already been there hours. It was not as if he still had other important things to do, such as to discover why all the fairy specimens in his research lab had died at the same time not long ago. That mystery had seen several researchers' dead when they were unable to explain how the fairies magic had simple vanished.

Now he waited for Rookwood to inform him of his team's findings. He did not need to wait long; Rookwood entered and kneeled before him. "My lord, I believe I have a basic understanding of the events of this evening."

"Good. Then explain to me why Severus is dead and there is no magic left in Hogwarts." Voldemort said.

"We located a nearly destroyed room on the seventh floor. While badly damaged enough of the original structure remained for us to discover a complex ritual circle. As best as I can tell sir three people performed this powerful ritual that drew on the magic of the school to fuel it. From Severus's condition I would guess he attempted to stop it at the schools ward stone but was unable to. His body was then expelled by the magic from the ward stone chamber and returned here." Rookwood said with his head still bowed.

"And what was this ritual to accomplish?" Voldemort asked.

"Time travel." Rookwood said.

"So they failed." Voldemort leaned back on the thrown like chair.

"It does not appear so sir. In fact from the remaining parts we found I believe they have a very good chance of succeeding." Rookwood said.

"If that was true than we are we still here? I imagine this was done by those who seek to oppose me." Voldemort said.

"Fairy runes my lord, they work in ways vastly different from our own magic as I am sure you know. More runes than we have ever found before. From what I was able to gather from them, and my own studies in the area of time, I believe that you are so powerful you are holding our current timeline in place." It was technically true and it complimented the Dark Lord, a win win. Rookwood felt the touch of his master's mind as he checked for honesty.

Voldemort frowned. While Rookwood was honest he made it sound as though it was his magical powers that held time rather than that prophecy. He also drew additional information, such as the function of time travel employed. It did not take long for his vast intellect to put the last pieces together. If those who traveled back killed him in the past this time would die. But if those who went back died first the current time would remain. He and Potter were the linchpins of change. "What do you suggest we do then?"

Rookwood swallowed. "My lord. I believe I can recreate the ritual so that we may send one of our own back."

"Prepare what is needed, we will send everyone back." Voldemort said. This was an amazing opportunity. He could crush the muggles before they ever mounted a resistance. With both of them in the past he should be able to weave the future as he saw fit.

"We can't." Rookwood flinched; it was never a good thing to have to tell the Dark Lord his command could not be accomplished.

"Can not? Why?" Voldemort had a dangerous hiss in his voice.

"It took the power of the school to send three people back however far they went. My preliminary calculations suggest sometime in the mid to early nineteen nineties. Also there is evidence that it was Harry Potter and his whores, the mudblood and blood traitor." Rookwood said, though he was sure his master had already taken that information from his mind.

Voldemort slammed his fist onto the desk. "Then we will provide more power! Enough to send back a dozen of my most loyal servants."

"Power is not the only requirement my lord, there is another problem sir. Quantum Quartz. I do not know how they secured such a large amount but there is no way we can match it. As you know a diluted form was used in time turners. With the destruction of the ministry it will be difficult to acquire enough to send back a single person. Also the person sent back will join with their past self, unlike when a time turner is used and two of the same person exists at the same time." Rookwood explained.

"Than we will get more of this quartz. I will not chance everything I have worked for." Voldemort said. He could not, _would not_ lose everything now. His mind cycled back to the prophecy, was this it? The power?

"It's not that easy sir, Quantum Quartz is only found in trace amounts in a few places in the world. No new source has been discovered in centuries! No matter how many we send back the runes needed will be the same. If one of your servants can locate more quartz than we can increase the number but for now scraping together enough for one person will be a difficult task." Rookwood said.

The only thing that held Voldemort's hand back from his wand was the knowledge that Rookwood was speaking honestly. If the former unspeakable said something was impossible than it most likely was. Not that Voldemort would just accept that. "Very well, then I will go myself."

True there were points in that time frame where he was a near helpless spirit but still with his knowledge of the future he could easily speed up his rebirth and take out Potter while he was a student, even if he too processed knowledge of what was to come. It would be more difficult without taking his followers back with him but he was confident in his abilities.

"You can not sir, your, anchors." Rockwood said. Voldemort had to stay his hand from killing the man then and there; all others who had learned of his horucuxs had died. Only Rookwood's usefulness saved him. "To travel back you would need to take the same anchors you processed at the time you arrive, since two are gone now it is impossible, the ritual would fail and kill you, even with your anchors."

"Do you have a suggestion on who to send back then?" Voldemort asked him.

"Several. Because of the time period most of your most loyal followers will be incarcerated in Azkaban and useless for this mission. My first suggestion would have been Severus." Rockwood paused to glance at the remains still on the carpet. "Next would have been Lucius, but since he is as dead as Severus. His son Draco would have been a good choice."

"Would have been? What has happened?" Another loss was not what Voldemort wanted to hear of. Had Potter gotten him?

"He has disappeared sir. We know he was not one of those who traveled back but he may have been killed in the backlash. Or betrayed us." Rookwood suggested.

"Find him or his remains." Voldemort ordered, the loss of Draco was a concern as he knew many secrets.

"Yes sir. The problem of who to sends comes down to positioning. We are very limited in choices of someone who would be in a position to kill Potter in the time period they went to. I believe our only choice is." Rockwood paused. "Ron Weasley. He is our best hope. He is in a close position and the best we have that is not dead now or imprisoned then."

Voldemort considered it. The youngest Weasley son had little skill but was easily manipulated and had proven himself before when he hunted down the mudblood's parents. While he was loath to entrust the boy with something of this magnitude Rockwood was correct that the choices were limited. It was a gamble but unless Rookwood could narrow down the time range than the boy was their best chance. "I will consider it, will you need anything else?"

"As I said power. Before I would have suggested draining the Ministry of Magic. With that no longer an option I believe our last course is to use Durmstrang. And even than we will need sacrifices." Rookwood anticipated what his lord's next question would and quickly did the mental calculations.

"What kind?" Voldemort asked.

"Blood. I estimate it will take between eighty nine to a hundred magicals to properly blood bond the runes. With that many we should be able to provide more power than was available at Hogwarts and send our agent to a time before the others arrive. If successful they should be able to kill Potter and his whores before they arrive. With no bodies to combine with I believe they will simple die and we will be victories." Rookwood said. He had rounded the number up for safety. Better they arrive a few months too early then too late.

"I will let Bellatrix see to that." Voldemort said.

"Yes my lord." Rockwood said as he backed out of the room, never turning his back to his master. Voldemort himself stayed just long enough to order his followers to strip the castle. It was too exposed without wards. He also began to compose the story of what happened at Hogwarts. He'd blame the muggles of course.

Snape had kept far fewer items than Dumbledore and as a result it took less than an hour for the office to be packed and emptied. Once the last Death Eater had left Draco pulled Harry's invisibility cloak from himself. After the explosion he had been sure Potter had failed and crept into the Headmaster office to at least take his revenge on Snape, but Snape had been dead already. And now. There was still a chance. He needed to get to Durmstrang.

Draco made it as far as the edge of the forbidden forest before several important things came to mind, without the schools wards he could have apparated from the castle. Well he could have if Voldemort didn't have ways to track it and other magical travel. Draco cursed, he couldn't walk to Durmstrang; and muggle transportation was out of the question. Not only on principal but he lacked the needed identification. It appeared his only choice was to steal one of the schools brooms, slow though they were. Maybe someone had left their personal broom in the shed.

He turned to go check and froze. Standing a dozen feet from him was a reindeer. It watched him for a moment before it motioned with its head for him to climb on. Draco snorted in disgust at the animal; he remembered Lovegood had mentioned riding a flying reindeer to Hogwarts a few days before. Not that he believed her. "I suppose you can fly too can you?"

In response the reindeer stepped forward and off the ground. It hovered several inches above the snow and snorted at him.

"This has to be Lovegoods fault." Draco said as he climbed on to the strange creature. The things he'd do for Pansy.

0-O-0

Voldemort stood wrapped in a thick fur cloak. Durmstrang in the dead of winter was a miserable place even to him. Months of searching had turned up no more quartz. Rookwood had only been able to salvage enough to make a small fist sized lump, though he assured the Dark Lord it would be enough. After a review of all his remaining followers Voldemort was forced to admit that the Weasley boy was the person who would be in the best position to kill Potter. No trace of Draco had ever been found.

The main hall of the school had been cleared out. The floor replaced with garnet slabs and etched with a complex rune array. Rookwood had cobbled it together from what remained of the fairy runes from Hogwarts and cannibalized several other human rituals to fill in the blank spots. Today was the day. The schools ward stone had been brought out and set in the circles to power the spell. A hundred and nineteen blood traitors were to be killed. Ron Weasley had gone through extensive training, provided by Voldemort himself and now stood ready to kill his former friends.

Draco crouched under the invisibility cloak in a corner. He would have one chance and he intended to take it. Draco had ridden Butterbeer, as he had taken to calling the reindeer because of its seeming addition to the magical drink, to Durmstrang and camped out with it for several weeks. Stealing what he needed and keeping watch. To his surprise he had actually been sad when he told Butterbeer that morning to get as far away from Durmstrang as he could so he wasn't caught if Draco failed. Of course even if he succeeded he wouldn't be coming back.

The sacrifices were brought in, their throats slit and the blood summoned from their bodies. A few Durmstrang students remained with push brooms and swept the blood into the runes until they were filled. Rookwood insisted magic could be used to summon the blood from their bodies but not move it once it was out.

It took over two hours before Rookwood was satisfied. The floor was then carefully cleaned of the remaining blood before Ron proudly stepped forward and took his place in the center. Absently he ran a hand along the long scars that covered his face, a parting gift from the mudbloods damned cat. Draco moved forward. One chance. It was all he would get.

He positioned himself between Ron and the Durmstrang ward stone. Hidden by the cloak he studied the creature he once called master and cursed the stupidity of his younger self. From his pocket he drew a highly volatile explosive potion and two sticks of muggle explosives. He didn't know what they were, he had just ordered the first soldier he had found to get to strongest explosives he could, thankfully the solider was from a more remote station and no one had noticed his glassy eyed look. Hopefully it would be enough.

Draco had paid close attention to Rookwood and studied his notes on the ritual. There would be a point of magical cascading from the ward stone. That was his chance. He would set off the explosives. It would stop the ritual and hopefully the magical backlash would kill Voldemort or at least injure him.

As they began Draco drew his wand and pulled out a picture. It had been taken at the end of seventh year. In it he and Pansy were laughing. One of the few times they had done so freely. _If Potter succeeds then none of this will ever happen. And if he fails, than maybe whatever powers there are will let me see you again._

The hair stood up on his neck as the magic gathered. This was it. He touched his wand to the explosives. "Pansy."

The explosion that claimed Durmstrang was comparable to the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading. This entire chapter was originally part of chapter one but I cut it to keep it a more reasonable length. Also a big thank you to ****Katzztar for helping me fix many of my mistakes in this chapter.****Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion.)**


	3. Setting the Stage

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Three: Setting the Stage

0-O-0

Harry grabbed his head in pain and thrashed about as his muscles spazzemed. When the fit finally passed he found that he had fallen from his bed and rolled across the room. For several minutes he lay on the floor as his mind slowly came back together. Weakly he lifted a hand and stared at his fingers. One by one he moved them and a smile spread across his face. It had worked. They were back.

When one has just traveled through time it is inadvisable to suddenly jump up and shout for joy, as Harry learned when he attempted it. A spike of pain lanced through his mind, he grabbed his head and waited for it to pass. Then began to take in his surroundings; he was in his room at Number Four, so after he got his letter. The only books lying around were first year so it was before second year; no bars on the windows so that meant it was the summer before first year.

That was unexpected. Hermione and Luna had reasoned Hogwarts would have enough magic to send them back towards the end of third year. The magic must have been a lot stronger than they thought. Still this gave them extra time; though some of their plans would have to wait now until their magic developed more; mainly the ones to deal with the Death Eaters. He was sure they could rework the plans.

Now to get to Luna's house since it was the safest. While the blood wards might exist Hermione was sure they'd have trouble stopping a particularly aggressive flobberworm. Luna had told them how to get in if she was away and that she would try to get back as soon as possible.

Harry grabbed his wand and walked down the stairs, he planned to catch the Knight Bus. Hermione had been adamant they not try to apparate until they were all together in case something went wrong. He almost made it to the door when Vernon caught sight of him. "Where do you think you're going boy? There's a list of chores for you to finish, have to get everything squared away before you leave for that freak school. You need to repay our kindness in taking you in."

"Stuff it you bloody wanker." To be fair Harry really couldn't be blamed for his anger, during the magical muggle civil war the Dursleys founded a radical group to wipe out all magical people and creatures. They'd led a new witch hunt and killed thousands, mostly muggles, for perceived usages of magic.

Vernon struggled to rise from his chair. Spittle flying from his mouth. "How dare you! I'll tan the hide right off your back! Freaks be damned! Knew this would happen. I'll beat that unnaturalness's right out of you this time even if it kills you!"

Harry calmly drew and leveled his wand at his uncle just as he managed to haul himself out of the chair. "No you won't. I am not the same person you have tortured for the last decade. I am Harry James Potter, wizard. I wield magic you can not even begin to understand. You. Will. Sit!"

While he didn't put in magic into the command he jabbed his wand at his uncle in a show of force and Vernon collapsed back into his chair. "Good, now I am going to leave. You will not touch my things while I am away. With any luck when I come back it will be the last time we must see each other again."

"You, you see here now. If you step out that door don't bother coming back at all or, or I'll." Vernon flattered under his nephews gaze.

"Or you'll what?" Harry asked. "You will do nothing. You know they are watching you. Others like me. It's required when you live with muggles. In case they act, negatively. If you try to harm me I'll turn you into a pig, just like Hagrid should have finished doing to Dudley, then they'll arrive and we'll probably have a nice pork cook-out before I leave. And you, you'll just be one more unexplained disappearance. So just ignore me and soon enough I'll be gone."

He didn't wait to make sure his uncle understood. Harry knew if he did not leave right then he was liable to have an incident of accidental magic, as it was it took him a considerable effort to push down his magic. The last thing he needed was the ministry showing up to question him.

Harry hurried from the house and went to the small park nearby. A quick glance assured him that no one was watching. He raised his wand and summoned the Knight Bus. The triple decker purple bus appeared with a bang. As soon as the doors opened Harry stepped on. There were different operators than when he had first taken the bus. A grizzled man glanced down at him. "Where ye going?"

"The Rookery, Ottery St. Catchpole." Harry said. He quickly handed over the coins for his trip. There was no mention of tooth brushes or hot cocoa this time.

Despite the speed at which the Knight Bus traveled Harry willed it to go faster. It made two stops before his. At each one an old woman disembarked at an impossibly slow speed. When they finally reached Ottery St. Catchpole Harry jumped down the steps and off the bus. He tore along the track that led to the Rookery; he could see its slightly slanted form ahead of him. But as he approached he slowed.

What if something went wrong and Luna didn't remember? He'd need a reason to be there. He could say he was looking for Nargles, which might work and be a good ice breaker. He had all but stopped along the path when the Rookery door banged open and Luna rushed out. She threw herself at Harry and tackled him to the ground. Her tiny arms had a death grip on him. "You're real, you're real."

Harry brought his arms up and held her just as tightly. A knot in his stomach loosened, she remembered. "I am, and so are you."

"I was so afraid that I had just imagined it all." Luna said against his chest.

"You didn't. Come on lets go inside." Harry suggested. Luna nodded but refused to release him. "Have you seen Hermione yet?"

Luna shook her head. "No, but I'm sure she made it back fine if we did."

"Right, her parents actually watch what she does so it could be awhile for her to get here." Harry said.

As they stepped through the door Harry took the opportunity to examine Luna's home. The only time he had seen it before was shortly into the ill-fated horcrux hunt. Ron had left them and taken their remaining food and money with him. They had come back to Otter St. Catchpole to find him, only to step into a Death Eater attack against the Rookery.

Luna had run away from Hogwarts and the snatchers had tracked her down. Harry and Hermione had attacked them from behind. Still Mr. Lovegood had been killed and Luna, in a rage, had slaughtered the remaining snatchers. Harry and Hermione had helped the distraught girl as best they could. They'd convinced her to come with them and raided her camping supplies.

They had never gone back. The Rookery had been destroyed shortly afterwards.

The main floor was cluttered with all manner of strange things that appeared to have been collected from around the world. They moved to a worn couch and sat down. Luna curled up against Harry's side. She had always been affectionate, but rarely was she this needy. Being back must have opened up old wounds. He pulled her closer and stroked her hair. "Have you seen your father yet?"

"No, he had already left for the office before I arrived. It will be so strange to see him again. What if, what if he knows something is different?" Luna asked, sounding much more like the child she appeared to be rather than the woman Harry knew.

"I don't know." Harry said. "But we can figure it out when Hermione gets here. Worst case we tell him what happened sooner then we planned."

It was twenty tense minutes later when there was a knock at the door. Luna was off like a shot. By the time Harry got to the door Luna had Hermione on the ground in another death hug, one Hermione returned with full gusto. Harry joined them on the ground in a three way hug.

Hermione helped up a crying Luna, the younger girl refused to let her go. "We weren't worried that you wouldn't arrive, no, not at all."

"We all made it through safe." Hermione assured her with a quick kiss.

Though Harry had seen the same sight countless times before he suddenly felt a blush spread across his face, it matched the one on Luna and Hermione. All felt a level of embarrassment they hadn't felt in years; and since none wanted to think on it to much they hurried inside.

Once they were all on Luna's couch Hermione pulled out a notebook. "Alright clearly we've gone back further than we thought we would so we'll have to change some plans. First thing is to get Luna into our year."

"Can we do that?" Harry said. He looked at Luna who just shrugged.

"It's an old rule, 'hardship placement' a student can enter Hogwarts early if their parents requests it and can prove not having them attend would be a hardship. Of course no muggle born would ever know that." Hermione said in revulsion.

"But having me here for another year wouldn't be a hardship on Daddy." Luna said.

"True but we just need your dad to say it would be. You mentioned sometimes while you were at Hogwarts your father took trips to look for new animals?" Hermione had long ago learned that questioning the strange animals Luna and her father believed in were a bad idea. So she had taken to calling them rare or new.

Harry didn't miss Luna's look. He reached over and took her hand. "You don't have to start with us if you don't want to. We'll understand if you'd rather stay with your father."

"No, this wasn't a good year." Luna said. At their confused looks she explained. "Do you remember how I told you that sometimes Daddy was less here than others? He'll spend most of the next year at the office or working. I'd rather spend that time with both of you than alone."

Harry and Hermione wrapped their arms around her. "We'll never let you be alone again."

Luna clapped. "I have my own stalkers!"

"Luna, could you please not call us your stalkers?" Hermione said.

"Alright, I'll be your stalker then."

Hermione turned to Harry for help but he just smiled. "I can live with that."

"Wonderful! I'll go call Daddy and have him set up an appointment with professor McGonagall." Luna said. She rushed to the fire place made the floo call to her father.

Moments later Mr. Lovegood stepped out. "Now what was so important moonbeam? Eh? Hello."

Harry and Hermione each gave a polite nod. "Hello Mr. Lovegood."

"Daddy these are my friend Hermione Granger and Harry Potter." Luna said as she took their arms.

To his credit Mr. Lovegood's eyes only flickered to Harrys scar for a moment. "A pleasure to meet both of you."

"Daddy, I was wondering if. Would you let me start Hogwarts a year early?" Luna asked her eyes wide with pleading.

"I'm sorry moonbeam but that's not my decision." Mr. Lovegood said.

"But you can request it. If me not attending would be a hardship." Luna said.

Mr. Lovegood frowned. "Luna dear you're never a hardship."

"I know. But if you tell the school that it is than they could let me attend. And you'd be able to go on those expeditions. The ones you say are too dangerous for me." Luna said with a pout, she remembered those years she had spent trying to convince her father his expeditions _weren't_ too dangerous for her.

He considered it. Honestly he was surprised that Luna had two friends over at all, he wasn't aware she even had two friends. That one of them seemed to be the famous Harry Potter was just more confusing. But he really couldn't refuse his daughter. Since her mother died it just wasn't in him. And he had been worried about her being alone so much but he could never seem to find enough time to spend with her even when he was home. "Is this really what you want Little Moon?"

"Yes Daddy. I want to be in the same year as my friends." Luna said.

"What about Ginny? Isn't she still your friend?" Xeno asked.

Luna paused. The first time around at this point she would have still called Ginny a friend. But not after what they knew the girl would do. "We hardly see each other and have different interests. Really she only talks to me when she wants to complain about her brothers."

"I see. Well if you're sure. I'll see about having a professor come out and see what we can do." Xeno said.

"Thank you Daddy!" Luna threw her arms around her father. Harry and Hermione knew the hug was more than just thanks. It was everything from the last few years they had gone through.

Xeno returned the hug and turned to them. "You'll both take care of her?"

"With our lives." Harry said.

"Good. Now why don't all of you go play." Xeno suggested. He watched the children head upstairs to Luna's room before he went back to the fire and floo called the Deputy Headmistress. "Hello?"

Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Ah professor McGonagall. It's been some time." Xeno said.

She took a moment to study the face in the fire. "Xenophilius Lovegood, it has been some time. I do hope your transfiguration has improved?"

"Eh well no, hardly use it." He admitted, how could she make him feel guilty when he hadn't been a student in decades? "I am calling about my daughter. I wanted to set up a meeting to see if I could get her in a year early it would, um, be a hardship otherwise?"

"I see." The hardship rule was mostly used by purebloods who wanted a child out of the house quicker because they couldn't handle them; or to get a child into a certain year for one reason or another, normally to make certain social connections or for the sake of a betrothal contract. None of which she approved of. "Well that is an official reason. Unofficially?"

"Her friends are starting this year and she doesn't want to be parted from them. If she has to stay here alone most of the time until next summer, well I couldn't do that to her." Xeno admitted, happy to tell the truth.

Professor McGonagall sighed. Well best to take care of this now. They were already cutting it close. "I can come over around three this afternoon, would that be acceptable?"

"Yes that'll be wonderful. Thank you." Xeno said before he pulled his head out of the fire and stretched.

0-O-0

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts, a lemon candy rested in his mouth. His plans had been moving along well and they were about to take the next step. Soon Harry Potter would arrive and be under his direct influence, a few kind words should see him viewed as a kindly grandfather figure to the boy.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled, the stage was set for Harry's first test. Hagrid had done wonderfully even if he didn't know it. Harry would be able to put the pieces together and they would lead him to a confrontation with Quirrell by the end of the school year.

Molly was set to _rescue _Harry on September first when he could not get onto the platform by himself. It would be a good introduction to a light family.

Of course his suggestion that Hagrid buy the son of his friends a birthday present, perhaps an owl, had been genius. He had even placed a small compulsion to insure that Hagrid bought the proper owl, one Dumbledore had chosen for her intelligence and placed special charms upon. It wouldn't do to let Harry write to just anyone after all.

Dumbledore glanced at one of the tracking charms he had attached to Harrys owl and frowned, she seemed to have strayed a fair distance in her latest hunt. Then he smiled. If she kept to her current path she'd pass by Ottery St. Catchpole that evening. Perhaps he should visit the Weasley's, after all finding an injured owl and returning her to her owner was also a good way to meet someone and would indebt Harry to them from the start. But that would have to wait until the evening; right now he needed to meet with the new Minister for Magic. Apparently Fudge needed his help with something, again.

0-O-0

Harry Hermione and Luna entered her room. The walls were covered in drawings of strange creatures. Most of which Harry and Hermione recognized for Quibbler. Bright sunlight filtered in through partly closed curtains. They all moved to her bed and sat down. Hermione pulled out her notebook again. "Alright, getting Luna into our year is a good start. Now how do we deal with Voldemort?"

"Didn't most of the plans cover things years from now?" Harry asked as he reached over and absently played with Luna's hair.

"True, we didn't think we'd get back this far. But we can't let this extra time go to waste. Riddle will be possessing Quirrell this year." Hermione said.

"As long as that hasn't changed." Luna said.

"We can test it when we get to Hogwarts. We just need to see if Harrys scar hurts around him." Hermione said.

"And if Riddle is hitching a ride?" Harry asked, personally he voted for stunning him and feeding him to fluffy. Or maybe accidently releasing Norbert into his office and sticking the dragon's teddy bear to the back of Quirrell's turban.

"Well he's basically a wrath right now, but Quirrell willing allowed himself to be possessed so it would take a full and powerful exorcism and a lot of time to get him out of Quirrell, a few days at least. And that's provided we had enough power to perform it at all. Maybe. Harry at the end of the year when you fought Quirrell you said Voldemort's spirit passed through you?" Hermione asked as she chewed on her pen.

"Yeah, hurt too. Kind of like when he tried to possess me at the ministry." Harry said.

Hermione began to scribble. "Alright. This might work. I think he did try to possess you but whatever your mother did that protected you and burnt Quirrell prevented Riddle from managing to do so. What if this time we set a trap? If he tries again we can catch him."

"How?" Harry asked.

"Some kind of spirit binding medallion or totem." Luna suggested.

"That could work. If we can catch the active part of Riddle there won't be anything for Wormtail to find and revive." Hermione said.

Harry looked out the window towards the burrow. "What are we going to do about Wormtail?"

Hermione bit her lip, they'd agreed they would catch the rat if they could but they hadn't thought they would go back this far. "We'll catch him, but we need a good cover story. Otherwise they'll ask questions we can't answer."

Harry nodded. He had been looking forward to seeing Sirius again. But that would have to wait. They were still planning when Mr. Lovegood poked his head in and told them that professor McGonagall would come by that afternoon.

"That was quicker than I expected." Harry said.

"Well she probably wants to get it settled. I imagine it'll be a lot of work to add Luna to the class list. Speaking of, what do we do about houses?" Hermione asked. This was a perfect opportunity for the three of them to be placed in the same house.

"I'd prefer not to be in Ravenclaw again." Luna said. Harry wrapped a comforting arm around her. Both he and Hermione harbored some guilt over not helping Luna sooner.

"If we're in Gryffindor we have access to Scabbers but we'll have to deal with Ron for seven years. And Slytherin is flat out." Harry said.

"So Hufflepuff?" Hermione said.

"Well Cedric and Susan will be in Hufflepuff, and they caused me the least amount of trouble over the years." Harry said. It could also be useful to have a connection to the head of the DMLE.

"Then it's settled, we'll all be in Hufflepuff." Hermione said. "Um, how do we convince the Sorting Hat to do that? And what if it tells Dumbledore what it sees in our heads?"

"It won't." Luna assured them. "I had a few talks with it before. It is forbidden to tell the Headmaster anything that isn't an immediate danger to the school. And you can ask to be put in a certain house. If you're insistent enough he'll agree."

"When did you have a chance to talk to the Sorting Hat?" Harry asked. They had only gotten it moments before they traveled back.

"Back when we were in school. I had to see the Headmaster a few times because I was caught out after curfew. Fawkes is nice but not much of a conversationalist." Luna explained.

"Good. Ok what next?" Hermione said as she jotted down notes.

"Maybe see about the blood wards on my aunt's place. If we can figure out how they work maybe we can figure out a way to get me out of there." Harry said.

"Definitely. We can head over after McGonagall talks to Luna." Hermione said.

"That'll work, if it's during the day my uncle will be at work and Dudley will be out terrorizing the neighborhood. So we'll only have to deal with my aunt. I just wish we could use magic." Harry said.

"Oh don't worry about that. They can only detect non-directed magic without an active trace." Hermione explained.

"Which means." Harry asked.

"Without having the trace on your wand they can only detect accidental magic, and the trace isn't applied until we reach Hogwarts. Remember what I said on the train when we first meet? I'd been practicing spells at home." Hermione explained.

"So we're free to do magic until we get to Hogwarts?" Harry said.

"Yup." Hermione said with a devilish grin.

"That'll be useful. Ok anything else?" Harry asked.

"Plenty. Since we're waiting for professor McGonagall right now though I suggest we check our occlumency. We have more secrets now than ever." Hermione suggested.

"Um, before that." Luna interrupted. "Hermione when you kissed me, I mean why did. Ug how do I say this?"

"Why were we all acting like, well kids?" Harry offered.

"Exactly! We've done a hell of a lot more than just kiss before." Luna said, she began to blush as she remembered just how much more.

"I think that was part of what Santa meant when he said the us that we are would join with the us that we were. Mentally we are in our late twenties. But physically were children. So while in our minds we are mature our bodies will still react as they would have if we hadn't come back." Hermione explained.

"Wonderful that means we'll have to go through puberty again." Harry said. Once had been hard enough.

Luna leaned over towards him. "At least this time you'll have two sexy ladies to help take care of all your needs."

Harrys face went scarlet and he tried to scrabble off the bed. "Luna!"

"Well at least this will be fun." Luna said.

"Just don't tease him to much Luna; we don't want him broken before we have a chance to break him in again." Hermione warned.

"Didn't someone say something about working on occlumency?" Harry asked. Damn it he used to be able to hold his own against them. He'd need to work at that and soon.

They all settled into comfortable positions on Luna's bed and let themselves slip into their minds. It had taken years of hard work and practice for Harry to come up with workable defenses for his mind. And it was mostly thanks to Luna and Hermione that he had been able to develop them at all.

It was actually Hermione who figured out a way to let Luna copy her own mindscape to them, as she took to occlumency with frightening ease. That had speed up the process considerably. Because of this they all had similar foundations for their mindscapes. A large forest. Though each had developed it from there on their own, they had taken more than a few ideas from the others though.

Harry entered his own mind, starting at the outer most layer. The shields composed of mental will and memories or in some cases a blank mind. Immediately he noticed a problem. Where once his mental shields had been strong and littered with traps they were now all but torn apart. Though not in any one area like an assault would leave it but completely twisted up everywhere.

Except, Harry examined his shields closer, they were still there but they were only ghostly images of what they once were, like a clear membrane. Well that would make putting them back in order easier at least. Harry passed through the ghostly remnants of his shields into his mindscape proper. Again it was just short of a disaster. The trees were translucent images of a forest and his guardians were ghosts themselves.

In fact the only thing that seemed real was the house, a replica of Potter manor, at least from the outside. Harry quickly moved towards it and stepped inside. He had nicknamed this part of his mind the fun house as it was a maze of corridors and false rooms filled with traps.

As it turned out one of the most difficult parts of having a fully formed mindscape was memory, you had to remember how it was set up or it caused all kinds of problems. Thankfully after years of working on it Harry remembered all of the little details and only had to check it once a month or so.

Everything within the house seemed to still be in order. He debated a moment if he should started fixing the shields first or remaking the forest. Harry reasoned since the house was still alright he might as well work out from there.

0-O-0

Professor McGonagall stepped out of the floo into the Rookery. "Xenophilius."

"Hello professor, can I get you something to drink?" Mr. Lovegood offered.

"No, thank you. I just need to make sure your daughters magic is advanced enough to be able to cast spells without straining herself." The professor said.

"Of course she's upstairs with her friends, I'll just run up and get her." Xeno said. As he walked up to Luna's room he felt a pang of regret. He would miss her dearly while she was away. Though he had known she'd be going to Hogwarts he had thought he'd have another year. But by the same token he was thrilled she had friends. She had seemed to draw into herself ever since her mother's death and he had begun to worry about her.

He stopped at the open door to Luna's room and looked in; the three children all appeared to be asleep on Luna bed. He had always thought if he found a boy sleeping in Luna bed he'd finally be able to try out the angry father routine he had been rehearsing in the mirror but they looked so cute that instead he went back to his room and grabbed his camera to take a picture before he woke them.

With the future blackmail material safely stashed he gently shook Luna. "Moonbeam, it's time to wake up professor McGonagall is here to see you."

He was surprised when Luna's eyes snapped open and she leapt up to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her. "Is everything alright?"

"Just fine Daddy. I'm just going to miss you but I really want to go with Harry and Hermione." Luna said. In truth while she had been able to control herself earlier fixing her mindscape had allowed her emotions to surface and she couldn't resist hugging her father who she had lost years before.

"That's fine dear, shall we wake them?" Xeno said.

"No, that's fine let them sleep. We were all so excited about me joining them we wore ourselves out." Luna said, really she just didn't want to have to explain to professor McGonagall how they suddenly all knew each other and were friends. They'd have to work that story out before they got to Hogwarts.

"Alright dear, shall we go see the professor than? She might even be your head of house." Xeno said.

"Lets, but I doubt it." Luna said.

"Whys that dear?" Xeno asked.

"Harry Hermione and I all plan to be in the same house." Luna informed him.

"Eh you know you might not all get to be in the same house." Xeno said, he hated to disappoint his daughter but felt she should be prepared in the likely event they weren't all in the same house.

"True and if we aren't we'll just have to be together between classes but I don't think it'll be a problem." Luna said.

"Yes, well good." Xeno said, he was surprised at her confidence.

They reached the first floor and Luna walked up to professor McGonagall. "Hello ma'am. I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Hello. I am professor McGonagall. I understand you wish to attend Hogwarts a year early?" She asked.

"Yes, though it's not really a year early. Since my birthday is October first it's really more like one month early." Luna said.

"Well than I don't anticipate any problems, still I am required to check. Please hold still." McGonagall cast a charm on her.

Luna recognized it as a charm to check magical cores and almost cursed out loud. Would traveling through time have affected her core? What would the results say? They should have thought of it. "What was that spell?"

"Just a charm to check your core. It seems fine, though a little bigger than a child of your age normal has its nothing to worry about." McGonagall assured her.

"So I can go to Hogwarts?" Luna asked.

"Yes, I will have a list of the needed items sent to you tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you when classes begin." McGonagall stood and left to add the extra name to the list for the coming year.

"Well shall we wake your friends now and give them the good news?" Xeno asked.

"I think so." Luna said as she hurried up to her room. Quickly she 'woke' both Harry and Hermione who were still repairing their minds and brought them up to date. A quick discussion also informed them that all their minds were in a similar state of disarray.

"Hermione, when do you need to be home by?" Harry said.

She checked the time. "In just over an hour why?"

"Do we have time to check the blood wards?" Harry asked.

0-O-0

Dumbledore returned from his meeting with Fudge to check the tracking charms on Harry's owl. If she as still near Ottery St. Catchpole he could arrange a small accident where the Weasley's could nurse her back to health, actually even if she wasn't near their home he could arrange it.

However when he entered his office all thoughts of Harrys owl vanished from his mind; several house elves were working to repair a large burned spot next to Fawkes perch. "What happened?"

"Apparently your bird had a nightmare and became so startled he woke up and set fire to the office." The Sorting Hat offered as an explanation.

Fawkes glared at the hat and made an almost threatening sound. The Sorting Hat was unconcerned. "I have been threatened with fire countless times; you'll have to do better than that."

Dumbledore stepped in before there could be a fight; he needed the Sorting Hat unharmed and functional. "Enough, Fawkes there is nothing to be embarrassed about, we all have nightmares from time to time."

He ignored the noise of protest Fawkes made and turned to help repair the damage.

0-O-0

**(A/N: ****Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion.)**


	4. Wards, Parents, and an Owl in China

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Four: Wards, Parents, and an Owl in China

0-O-0

"Daddy, can I take the Knight Bus to Harry's house?" Luna asked her father as the three went downstairs.

"Hermione and I will escort her back afterwards." Harry assured Xeno.

"Well, I suppose if you're both with her and she's back before sundown." Xeno said from the kitchen where he was continuously pulling a cat out of a large pot. Every time he sat it down it would immediately jump back in.

"Thank you Daddy." Luna gave him a quick hug before they all left. She skipped along the lane ahead of the others as she hummed happily to herself. Harry half expected woodland creatures to come out and follow her along the dirt path.

When they reached the road Luna already had the Knight Bus waiting for them. They all climbed on and since Luna was the smallest she managed to share a chair with Harry. As they jerked back into motion Luna made sure to rub herself against Harry as much as possible, much to his embarrassment. He was forced to wrap his arms around her to keep her still, only after he did so did he wonder if that hadn't been her plan all along.

Not sure of exactly what wards might be monitoring number four they had the Knight Bus drop them off a few blocks away and walked the remaining distance. Harry glanced at the girls as they approached his house. "Remember, neither of you can kill them."

"Just a little, please?" Luna begged. She had so many ideas.

"Sorry but no, at least not now. Maybe next summer you can torment them a bit." Harry said.

Luna pouted but agreed. It just gave her another year to fine-tune her plans and make sure they didn't overlap with Hermione's. Since Santa had first purposed sending them back each had made it a side project to find a way to deal with the Dursleys.

Before they actually reached Number Four Hermione cast notice-me-not charms and disillusionment charms on them. Each knew if it came down to an altercation they wouldn't be able to hold back. And since that would draw unwanted attention to them they would unfortunately have to wait to properly deal with Harry's relatives.

They were in luck as it appeared everyone was away from the house for the moment. It only took them a few minutes to locate the ward stone for the property. Their considerable experience locating protections made it simple. The ward stone was buried under his aunt's prized rosebushes. Not bothering to be gentle Luna tore them up and they each used a garden trowel to shift through the dirt.

Normally a wizarding home would need a keystone or anchor stone near the center of the property and ward stones along the edge to set the boundaries of the wards. With a space as small as the Dursleys house they could be combined, which would make them harder to penetrate. Bill Weasley had spent months showing them every trick he knew to bring down wards. Of course normally ward stones weren't buried so deep.

Harry sat back and wiped his brow, the hole was clogged with roots and they had already fought their way two feet down. "Are you sure this is the spot Hermione?"

She waved her wand and a small ball of pale green light appeared over the hole, pulsing gently. "This is the spot."

"Right, just checking." Harry hefted the tool again and returned to the job of chopping through the mass of roots.

Luna hummed to herself as they worked; she seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in destroying his aunt's garden. When the hole became too deep for their small trowels Luna grabbed a shovel and started digging. However because her body was now much smaller than she was used to Luna over extended herself and fell backwards. Harry caught her and they both tumbled to the ground. "Ow."

"Sorry. Stupid small body; doesn't even have the fun bits yet." Luna grumbled as they got up. She took another try at the shovel and began to expand the hole. She cheered up a bit when she began jumping on the shovel to force it in deeper, even if she couldn't lift it then. During one of her more exuberant jumps the shovel hit the ward stone, three feet down; twice as deep as normal. The top of the stone was the size of a brick lying flat; a fine covering of roots obscured the runes cared into it.

Hermione cast a few charms on it. "I looped the wards monitoring the stone itself, we can move it now."

They started to dig around its edge of the stone. Harry reached in and tried to pull it out. The ward stone didn't budge. It took another ten minutes for them to dig out the stone enough to pull it free; the two foot tall stone was made of polished granite. It took the three of them together to lift it from the hole. Luna stuck a foot down the opening left by the stone; the top of the hole now came to above her head. "That's deep."

"Luna dear get out of there you're getting dirty." Hermione absently scolded.

"But I thought you liked when I was dirty? Besides I know how much to like deep things. Or things that go deep." Luna teased.

Hermione went scarlet. Harry took pity on her, though he was fighting his own blush. "Luna come on out or I'll have to burry you."

"In pudding?" Luna said. She wasn't joking either, Harry and Hermione had once come home and found that she had filled their largest bathtub with pudding. Still that had been a fun night.

"Sorry but not this time." Harry shook his head.

"Oh poo, fine." Luna held out her arms for Harry to help her out. He reached down and pulled her up, then took an extra minute to hold the girl against him. Despite all the changes he was pleased to note he still had the same feelings of love when he held her. He leaned down and quickly kissed her lips. He was also pleased to see her eyes widen and a blush spread down her neck. This could definitely be fun.

Hermione coughed to get their attention. "Luna, Harry, could you two check the stone to make sure I did the spell right?"

"We both know you did it right." Harry said.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Hermione said.

"Why?" They both asked.

Hermione gestured for them to take a look. Both cast a basic ward stone detection spell to see what they were dealing with. Neither was happy. Hermione's estimate of an angry flobberworm getting through was generous. A sleeping flobberworm could have rolled right in with how weak the ward was. "Shit, that's what I went through the Dursleys for?"

"It seems so." Hermione said.

"Have you disabled any parts that monitor offensive spells?" Luna asked.

"I have, why?" Hermione questioned her.

Instead of answering Luna began casting cutting curses at the remaining rosebushes. Harry waited until the bushes were reduced to a fine mulch, then pulled her into a hug. "It's ok Luna."

"But you went through everything for nothing!" Luna complained.

Harry could hear her tears as she spoke and had to remind himself that physically she was a child and getting upset was how a child would react to a friend being hurt. "We can't change that, and if my life with them before was the payment for being with you and Hermione than I say I got the better end of the deal."

Luna took a deep breath to compose herself. "Alright Hermione what can we do about the blood wards?"

"We could destroy them now, but that would lead to questions. I think we should set them to fail on their own." Hermione said.

"When would they fail?"

"Hard to say, they're so weak." Hermione did the calculations in her head. "Late November I think."

"And we'll all be at Hogwarts by then so we won't be suspects." Harry smiled; he wondered what Dumbledore would make of that.

"Right." Hermione said.

"Plus by then our magic signatures will have faded." Luna added.

"True, another bonus. We also need to find a way to remove the trace, and maybe second wands. But we couldn't bring them to Hogwarts or else the trace would be applied to them too." Hermione said as worked on the problem in her head.

"Why not the ones at Potter Manor, we all found good matches." Harry suggested, it seemed most of his ancestors had contributed at least one wand to the family collection instead of being buried with them like most witches and wizards.

Hermione nodded her agreement. "Another reason to go and open the manor soon."

"Well tomorrow Daddy is taking me shopping for my school supplies. So I can't go but both of you could." Luna said.

Harry threw and arm around Luna's shoulder. "Nope, we're all going together just like last time, minus the Death Eaters chasing us."

"Would you like some company tomorrow Luna? We could pick up our supplies and have Harry check his vaults." Hermione said. In their time by the end of '98 Voldemort had killed most of the goblins and seized control of most of the wizarding economy. Of course when the ministry was destroyed so was Gringotts. All of the lower vaults that survived were seized by the military.

"I'm sure Daddy wouldn't mind." Luna said happily.

"Good, now help me set the wards to collapse so Harry doesn't have to come back here." Hermione said. After the ward stone had been altered and new runes added they reburied it where it had been and shoveled the dirt back on.

Hermione glanced down at her watch. "I need to head home, so you two want to come and meet my parents?"

"I do!" Luna shouted, waving her hand in the air. Then turned to Harry with her evil grin. "You want to come too right?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean maybe start them off with just Luna." Harry tried to think of a reasonable excuse to put off the meeting.

"Harry James Potter, are you honestly scared to meet my parents? After all the Death Eaters we've fought, after facing Riddle at least a dozen times?" Hermione said in mock anger.

"But they just wanted to kill me, and I mean your parents will probably want to kill me later too but I can't fight back against them!" Harry said.

Luna couldn't resist. "Don't you think they deserve the chance to meet the boy who's going to take their daughter's virginity?"

"Luna!" Harry shouted.

"Luna don't frighten him; as far as my parents will know you are both just friends, for now." Hermione assured them.

"When do you plan to tell them?" Harry asked.

"Soon, I just want to…" Hermione couldn't figure the best way to say what she was thinking.

"You want to enjoy just being with them before you drop something like time travel in their laps?" Harry offered.

"Yes."

"We understand." Luna assured her, then frowned. "That means I can't kiss with you at your house yet."

"Maybe next summer." Hermione hugged the blond girl. "Let's clean up and go meet my parents shall we?"

"You promise to protect me if they try to kill me?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry, but honestly why would they want to kill you?" Hermione said, she already missed his old confidence, she'd have to think of a way to get that back.

"If they knew a tenth of the things we've done." Harry just shook his head; they'd kill him, adopt Luna and flee the country.

"But we haven't done anything yet, technically. I'll have to make a list so we can get back up to where we were before we came back." Hermione said.

Luna eyes lit up. "We can do it on the express! And do the Hogwarts broom cupboard challenge!"

"We'll have to wait a year or two for the express, we shouldn't waste our first time. There are a lot of rituals we could try; we'll need to see which ones are most useful." Harry said. He was sure there were a few he had read about.

"We'll have to research them." Hermione nodded as she cast cleaning charms on them to make sure they were presentable. Then once again disillusioned, they made their way to the street before dropping the charm and calling the Knight Bus. It took almost ten minutes for the bus to make the relatively short journey as several people were ahead of them.

When it arrived near Hermione's home they climbed off and took in the neighborhood. Harry had seen it before when he had come with her and Ron to erase her parent's memories and send them to what they thought was safety. It was a quiet place with large trees that hide the semiprivate yards. It looked like a wonderful place to live.

Hermione grabbed one of Harry's arms while Luna took the other. "Just in case you decide to try and run."

"Come on do you two really think I'd run?" Harry tried to sound insulted.

"No, you'd try to apparate and probably splice yourself." Hermione said.

Harry refused to admit that the thought had crossed his mind. The girls dragged Harry towards the front door. As they approached Harry could feel Hermione begin to shake with nervousness. He slipped his arm out of her and instead put it around her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "It'll be alright, none of it ever happened and we'll make sure it doesn't. No matter what it takes."

"Right." Hermione swallowed nervously and pulled out a key and unlocked it with her free hand. "Mum, Dad I'm home."

"There you are Hermione we were getting worried." Mrs. Granger said as she walked into the room, she stopped when she saw Harry and Luna, a look of surprise passed across her face.

"I did leave a note." Hermione pointed out.

"Well yes, it was just a surprise, that's all. Hello I'm Jean Granger." She said to the two new children that had followed her daughter in.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Luna Lovegood." Luna cheerfully greeted her.

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter, it's a pleasure." Harry said trying to keep his voice even. Damn his younger body and its completely rational, irrational fear of Hermione's parents.

"It's nice to meet both of you as well. I take it you're the friends Hermione went to visit?" Jean asked.

"We are ma'am." Harry said.

"There's no need to be formal." Jean said with a hidden smile. "Will you two be staying for dinner?"

"I'm sorry but no, I promised Luna's father I'd escort her home soon." Harry said seeing his chance to escape.

"Oh well alright, I hope we see you both around again." Jean said.

"Oh don't worry I imagine we'll be back soon." Luna assured her as she followed Harry back out the front door; she fought not to laugh at his stiff walk. She caught a last look of Hermione shaking her head at Harry's actions.

As the front door closed behind them Harry let out a sigh of relief. Luna lost her battle to contain her laughter. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"It was just her mum; I imagine the real trouble will be from her father." Harry said.

"Speaking of fathers come on you have to get me home. And then you can join us for dinner." Luna said as she locked her arm in Harrys and pulled him towards the street.

"Don't you want to spend time with your father?" Harry asked. He knew how much she had missed him; since Santa had arrived he had seen the look in her eyes. The chance to see him again was a major driving factor in Luna over the last few days in their time.

"That's what I'll be doing silly, spending time with him and you. Besides what do you think Hermione would do if she found out I let you go back to the Dursleys?" Luna raised her wand to summon the Knight Bus.

0-O-0

That evening Hermione's parents settled in to watch a show on the television. Normal Hermione would take to a chair and either watch with them or go to her room and read. Tonight though she sat on the couch between them. Something she hadn't done, even in that time line, for years. Both her parents had mildly startled looks, she stopped sitting between them at six claiming it was too childish. Hermione put an arm around both her parents and answered their unasked question. "Well I'll be going away to Hogwarts soon and I won't get to see either of you for a long time."

"You're planning to come back at Christmas right? That isn't too long, just a few months. And you'll be busy learning all that magic stuff." Jean said, trying to reassure her daughter. She remembered how afraid she had been herself when she went to a boarding school.

"I know but I'll miss both of you. Even a day can seem like years sometimes." Hermione said.

Both her parents leaned in and hugged her. Her father was the first to pull away. "You know you could always not go, that was an option to. You could keep attending a normal school, besides what about those two friends of yours? Wouldn't you miss them?" Dan had been worried that she'd decide to try a boarding school someday, he wasn't sure if the one she planned to attend being magical was better or worse.

Hermione had to hide her smile, she remembered the first time she had boarded the Hogwarts Express. Her father had been a nervous wreck. Secretly her mother told her she hadn't seen him like that since she went into labor with Hermione. "But if I don't go to Hogwarts I can't stay with them, they're both going."

Dan blinked in surprise. "They're both going too? So they're magical as well?"

"Yes." Hermione said.

"Why don't you tell us about them? I don't remember seeing them before." Jean prompted.

It was odd for Hermione, being treated as a child again. "Well I meet them at the bookstore in Diagon Alley when we went to get my things; Luna invited me over today and I went; they're both a lot like me. Harry's cousin is a bully so he never made many friends. Luna is from a completely magical family and they don't send their children to any kind of school before Hogwarts so the only children she knows are from another magical family that lives nearby. They have a son Harrys age and a daughter Luna's."

"Oh? Did you meet them when you went to visit?" Jean was curious about a completely magic family. The idea of home schooling your children before Hogwarts seemed a bit ridiculous.

"Thankfully no, I don't think we'd get along well. The boy, Ron I think, is obsessed with a magical game called quidditch and the girl, Ginny, sounds like a groupie for Harry." Hermione said trying to hold in her disgust just talking about the youngest Weasleys.

"Harry, the kid you were with today has groupies?" Dan asked with skepticism.

"Harry's one of the most famous people in the magical world. Right up there with Merlin and Dumbledore. Not that he knew that until a few weeks ago when he got his letter. He was raised in a non-magical house just like ours." Hermione said.

"How can he be so famous but not know it?" Dan asked.

Hermione took a moment to compose her thoughts. She didn't want to frighten her parents but she couldn't, wouldn't lie to them about Voldemort's history. It would be easier for her later if they understood. "Witches and wizards are just like everyone else, some good, and some bad. The worst become Dark Lords. About ten years ago the worst Dark Lord in Britain's history was trying to take over, he called himself Voldemort. He got a bunch of people to follow him and named them Death Eaters; they were nothing more than terrorists. They scared people with hit and run attacks. For a long time it looked like Voldemort was going to win. Harry's parents were some of the few that openly spoke out against him. Voldemort tried to kill them a couple of times so they went into hiding under powerful magic. But Voldemort found them. On Halloween night he attacked, thankfully he was arrogant and went alone but he killed Harry's father, then his mother. Then tried to kill Harry."

"He wanted to send a message." Dan said. He didn't like where this story was going.

"Yes. There's a really bad spell called the killing curse, it's one of the few spells outlawed completely. If it touches you, you're dead, no chance to be saved. No counter curse. Everyone its ever hit has died. Except Harry. No one knows how or why but the spell only gave Harry a scar. And it somehow killed its caster instead. The worst Dark Lord in Britain's history died trying to kill a baby. So of course everyone was thrilled to be safe again."

"How do you know all that?" Jean asked. She didn't want to come out and say it but she thought Harry might have been making up stories to impress her daughter. Better to help Hermione come to that conclusion on her own though. She wouldn't be surprised if Hermione was extremely protective of her only friends.

"I actually got a book about it, then Harry told me some too. When he first went to Diagon Alley everyone was treating him like a prince and happy to tell him the story. Not that he likes the fame though." Hermione said.

"He doesn't like being treated like a prince?" Dan said.

"It annoys him; to Harry it's just a reminder that his parents are dead." Hermione said pointedly.

Her father had the decency to look embarrassed. "I would imagine so."

"Anyways there are a lot of girls who would just love to marry him for the fame. From what Luna said Ginny would be one of them, though if she ever did meet him she'd probably just squeak and run away." Hermione said.

"That's, well that's a lot to take in. What about Luna?" Jean said hoping there wasn't some unbelievable story to go along with her daughters other friend.

"Oh Luna's very nice, well Harry is too but he's also very shy. Luna is really out going and fun. Her dad runs a magazine in the magical world about possible undiscovered magical creatures. He goes on expeditions sometimes to look for them." Hermione paused and her voice became downcast. "Her mother died a little over a year ago. There was an accident, it was hard on Luna."

"I imagine it would be." Jean said. It was hard to imagine the perky little blond girl had gone through such a tragedy. "So they'll both be starting Hogwarts with you?"

"Yes, well technically only Harry should be in my year, Luna normally wouldn't start until next year but apparently you can request to attend a year early. That's why I went over today, she just found out she could attend this year. Oh before I forget Luna invited me for a sleep over tomorrow, may I go? We're also planning a hike the next day. Luna knows about all kinds of magical animals and she even says there are fairies near her house." Hermione said. She didn't mention their hike had nothing to do with the supposed fairies near Luna's home.

"I suppose that'd be alright." Jean said. "Would you mind if I borrowed that book about Harry?"

"Alright just remember whatever it says about the night his parents died is guess work and anything after that are just lies. The information from before is fairly accurate though." Hermione said.

0-O-0

The Knight Bus dropped Harry and Luna off in front of the Rookery. As they walked the well-worn path towards the squat tower Harry heard a noise he hadn't heard in almost a decade. Hedwig. Harry spun around and saw the white owl descending towards him; he stuck out his arm for her to land on. She made a pleased noise and he stroked her feather. "There you are, I've missed you so much."

Luna reached out a petted Hedwig as well. "You're a very intelligent owl aren't you? Finding Harry all the way out here."

"Hedwig this is Luna, one of my girlfriends." Harry wasn't sure if Hedwig was smart enough to understand what that meant yet. According to Luna the familiar bond would build over time and the animal companion would have greatly increased intelligence. How far along Hedwig was after the short time he'd had her this time around Harry couldn't be sure.

Hedwig turned her head to examine Luna then back to Harry and gave him a, well, owlish look. Harry pulled out a few of the owl treats he'd stashed in his pocket that morning. "For now that just means if she needs you to deliver a letter I'd like you to do so alright?"

Hedwig bobbed her head once before she snapped up a treat. For the first time Harry wondered if she wasn't already as smart as some people. Harry shook his head and followed Luna through the front door. "Daddy, we're back."

"Excellent, did you have a good time?" Xeno asked.

"Oh yes, Harry took wonderful care of me and made sure to bring me back just like you asked." Luna said.

"Good, Harry will you be staying for dinner?" Xeno asked.

"Well considering Luna ordered me to I probably should." Harry said.

"Yes, it's best to just listen to her isn't it?" Xeno nodded his head in understanding.

Harry was a bit surprised when they all set down at the table and the food was, well normal. Apparently Luna's father had basic cooking skills, though he supposed it made sense, someone had to cook after all and Luna would have only made sweets if she could have gotten away with it. While Hedwig didn't eat she perched herself on an empty chair and watched them all carefully. Xeno took to making faces at her from time to time, Hedwig managed to mimic a few of them. As they were finishing Harry noticed Luna had the look she normally got when she was planning something, interesting. Such as releasing swear toads in Serpents Alley. "Daddy? Would it be alright if Harry spent the night?"

"Well, eh, aren't you both a bit young for that sort of thing?" Xeno looked decidedly uncomfortable, a look fully matched by Harry.

"Of course we are but that's why you don't need to worry." Luna said.

"Oh yes, I suppose that's true. In that case there shouldn't be any problem with Harry spending the night, just grab on of the extra beds from the basement." Xeno said, relief clearly painted on his face, along with a bit of jam.

After dinner Harry followed Luna into the basement, it was just as messy as it had been in the future. Luna took her time, running her hands along many of the boxes and odd pieces of furniture. Since Harry was not trying to comfort a distressed Luna this time around he also took a few minutes to examine the stacks. There was camping equipment of all type, muggle and magical. Along with an assortment of questionable items. The giant fish with a tentacle protruding from its mouth was a bit disturbing.

"I think the blue one would be the best." Luna said.

Harry tore his attention away from the disturbing fish to find Luna standing next to several roll away beds; each one with its own bright color. She reached out and grasped the blue one before she pulled. It barely moved. Harry took the other side and they tried again. The bed began to move with a quiet scraping noise. Each effort only moved the bed another inch or so. Suddenly, on the fifth pull it popped free and they tumbled backwards as boxes cascaded down on them.

Luna groaned as she struggled to free herself from a size forty two flower print dress. "Harry? You ok?"

"Not really, you cute little butt is pretty boney." Harry said from under her.

"Opps, and I thought you like my butt." Luna managed to roll off him.

Harry grunted as he sat up. "To play with? Yes. To have stabbed into my stomach? Not as much. Eh Luna? I think I know why it was stuck."

"Why would that be?" Luna asked as she tried to look like she hadn't just been checking her own posterior to see if it really was noticeably boney.

"It's wearing boots." Harry point toward the two back wheels, each wheel was in a tiny yellow rain boot.

"So this is where those got to, Daddy must have been the last person to put this bed up." Luna said with a shake of her head. She reached down and removed the footwear from the beds wheels.

"He puts boots on beds?" Harry asked.

"No, but sometimes when he has to move furniture he gets lazy and just animates it. For some reason whenever he does that the furniture has a tendency to steal clothes. I had to forbid him from rearranging my room after second year because my comfy chair raided my knickers. It took me a week to pull them all back out." Luna said as she tossed the shoes back into the unsteady pile of objects.

Together they each took an end of the bed and maneuver it up the stairs. "Is that why whenever we redecorated you'd charm all the furniture to move on its one?"

"Yup."

"And I thought you just like riding the couch around." Harry said.

"Well there was that too." Luna admitted.

It took them almost twenty minutes to make it up all the stairs to Luna's room. "Remind me again why we didn't levitate this thing up here?"

"Because you didn't think of it until now? You can get ready for bed; I need to do something real quick. If you need something to wear check the bottom of my dresser." Luna said before she left her room.

When Luna returned to her room she found that Harry had already set up the bed and was under the blanket. "Awe snorckark, I was hoping to jump you while you were still getting ready."

"I figured as much so I made sure to be fast, thanks for the clothes by the way Luna but why do you have a drawer filled with boxers?" Harry asked.

"Oh I went through a phase where I preferred boxers to knickers, and Daddy said it was unseemly for a girl my age not to wear some kind of undergarments. Actually I think this was around that time." Luna pulled up her dress to check, she was wearing a pair of purple boxers. "Yup. Why are you wearing a shirt to bed?"

Harry thought he had pulled the covers up enough to hide his shirt but apparently Luna could see it. "Eh, no reason."

"Harry James Potter I know when you're lying." Luna said, how a ten year old managed to be so intimidating Harry would never know.

"Well it's just, you know. The Dursleys never exactly feed me right and I haven't started quidditch yet so." Harry trailed off.

"So you're a scrawny kid again. Look at me I'm as flat as a piece of parchment. If I cut my hair I could pass for a boy. And unfortunately it'll probably be a few years before either of us gets to drool over the others body. I love you for you not what you look like." Luna finished with a brilliant smile that made Harry's heart flutter.

"I think you were channeling Hermione there that sounded very mature." Harry said.

"Thanks, I've been practicing in front of the mirror." Luna said as she began to search for something to wear to bed. "Oh I had forgotten all about this."

Harry rolled over when Luna pulled her dress over her head. Damn his younger body he'd seen that a few thousand times before but now he was too embarrassed to watch her. Luna's giggles certainly weren't helping matters either. "Alright Harry you can roll back over I'm decent."

When he did Harry found Luna wearing a pair of bright yellow footie pajamas with orange stripes, it came equipped with a hood with cat ears and a tail that swished back and forth seemingly on its own. He wondered what charm had been used on it. Before he could comment on it though Xeno walked into the room. "Ah all ready for bed good. Now not that I think I need to say it but I'd hate for all that practice to go to waste. I expect you to stay in your own bed all night young man."

"Yes sir." Harry said.

"Good, now be honest was I intimidating?" Xeno asked.

"Very sir." Harry answered.

"Excellent! Who says I need acting lessons?" Xeno was very pleased that his hard work had paid off.

"Aunt Billable I believe." Said Luna.

"Really?"

"No, I don't think I even have an Aunt Billable do I?" Luna asked with a finger pressed to her chin in thought.

"Hm not to my knowledge though you know how bad I am about keeping up with family. Well good night both of you." Xeno waved his wand and the lights flickered out. After a few minutes Harry realized someone, most likely Luna, had painted luminous stars on the ceiling. He watched as they slowly shifted, briefly forming pictures before they broke apart again.

"I had Daddy do the charm work for them." Luna said next to Harry. He jumped at her sudden appearance; he hadn't heard her get up.

"It's amazing."

"I think so." Luna pulled back the covers on Harry's bed and climbed in.

"Luna!" Harry hissed, his eyes darted towards the door. "What are you doing?"

"I would think that was obvious, I'm getting into bed with you." Luna said and she curled against him.

"What if your dad comes back in to check?" Harry said.

"Well he only told you to stay in your bed, so since you couldn't get in mine I joined you instead. Why do you think I picked the blue bed? It's the only one with enough room for both of us. Besides he never said I had to stay in my bed." Luna pointed out; when she felt Harry remain tense she pulled back a little. "Relax; even if he finds us together he wouldn't be mad. That'd only happen if you hurt me so you're perfectly safe."

"If you say so." Harry said, every thought in his head urged him to run before Mr. Lovegood magically appeared to get him.

"So do you want to know what I did earlier?" Luna asked in a teasing voice.

"What?"

"Well I may have made a slight adjustment to our ward stone and added that bewildering charm Hermione came up with to it." Luna said quiet pleased with herself.

"The one she described as talking to you for an hour when you don't want to cooperate?" Harry asked.

"Yup that's the one." Luna said.

Harry smiled. He had no idea where Hermione had come up with the charm but it could be attached to ward stones and would confuse any spying magic you could think of from listening charms to tracking. It had to be applied to a ward stone though to anchor it and it was only temporary, fading after a time. Each subsequent application would wear off faster than the last. Still it was amazing while it lasted as the effects it had on spells was almost random. Hermione had a huge notebook listing various factors that altered the charms reactions. Sometimes a listening charm would remain silent other times it would pick up muggle radio stations. It depended on so many factors the effect was impossible to predict. Everything from the type of stone used, age of the wards, number and type to who cast the spying magic. "Do you think anyone is spying on you or your dad?"

"I'm more worried about you; we forgot to check you for charms earlier. We'll have to get Hermione to do it tomorrow. We're both pants at it." Luna said with a yawn.

"Right, thanks for thinking of me, good night, I love you." Harry leaned forward a kissed her.

"I love you too Harry." Luna mumbled into his chest.

Hedwig from her perch on Luna's dresser gave a mournfully bark. Harry laughed, Merlin he had missed her. "I love you too Hedwig."

0-O-0

Albus Dumbledore was a man who always had a plan, a backup plan and several fail-safe's. It was rare for an event to completely stump him or ruin a plan. But that seemed to be exactly what had happened. Once again he checked the tracking charm on Harry's owl and once again he received the same results. Somewhere over the Hebei Province in China. Of course the further away the charm was the less accurate it became but he had cast it himself and anchored both ends securely. It should have been good across the continent. Which either meant someone had tampered with his charm or that the owl really was in China.

A quick glance at the instruments that monitored Number Four showed nothing amiss. The ward to alter him if Harry did not return home each night had not sounded so he should be safely behind the blood wards. Had he bothered to check he would have seen the tracking charm on Harry now showed him somewhere in Canada.

But he did not, to busy pondering how an owl made it all the way to China in such a short amount of time. And hoping it wasn't on someone's menu, he had heard disturbing tales about what people in that part of the world ate.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion. Also a big thank you to my beta Katzztar, thank you for all your work.)


	5. Into the Alley

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Five: Into the Alley

0-O-0

Harry wasn't sure what woke him at first, then he felt Luna shake lightly in his arms. He heard a slight sniff and felt a wet spot on his chest. "Luna?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." It was clear to Harry by her voice that she had been crying for some time.

He shifted, bringing Luna's head closer to his own. "What's wrong?"

Luna swiped at her eyes and buried her head under his chin. "It's nothing."

"Hey remember I'm the only one who gets to says it's nothing when it's clearly a lie." Harry tried to tease her enough to bring her back up. It worked, slightly.

"No, you get to say you're fine when you're clearly hurt, this is different."

"How so? Luna you know you can tell me anything, heck you'll tell me things I never wanted to know." Harry shuddered as he remembered several of the girl talks Luna and Hermione had forced him to sit through.

"It's just, if we'd come back just a bit further, we could have, could have." Luna sobbed. Harry pulled her closer.

"If we had come back a little further we could have saved your mother too?" He felt Luna nod against him. He really couldn't imagine what it felt like for her, to have been so close to having both her parents back. "I'm sorry, if there was anything I could do to..."

"Harry, do you remember what Hermione and I told you about upset girls?" Luna asked.

"Shut up and listen, don't try to fix it." Harry repeated. They'd forced that lesson into him, not that he liked it.

"That's right."

"But I want to do everything I can to help both of you."

"Well unless you know another method of time travel the most you can do is hold me." Luna said with fresh tears in her eyes.

"Right." Harry began to rub Luna's back as she cried against him. It was a long and unpleasant night.

0-O-0

"Would you like us to drop you off at Luna's house on our way to the office?" Jean asked Hermione at breakfast.

"Thank you but I don't think you'd have time, Luna doesn't actually live around here." Hermione put her dish into the sink, for some odd reason after becoming of age and being able to do magic all the time she found herself enjoying chores more without it.

"Then how will you meet her? Is her father bringing her around?" Dan asked looking up from his eggs.

"I'll take the Knight Bus." Hermione said.

"The what?"

"A magic triple decker bus that comes when you call and takes you directly to your destination, so I suppose it's really more of a taxi then a bus. It can get anywhere in Britain in about ten minutes." Hermione tried to explain in such a way that her parents would feel comfortable about her using the Knight Bus.

"Ten minutes, anywhere?" Dan asked skeptically, forget turning their table into a pig if someone wanted to prove magic was really this bus sounded like the way to go.

"Yes, we can all take it the next time we plan a day trip, it'll save loads of time on travel." Hermione said, ideas of some of their more local summer trips over the next few years filtered across her mind. She should have thought of using the Knight Bus back then.

"Well alright then, have a good time and be back for supper." Jean said.

"I will mum, love you, love you too dad!" Hermione grabbed her old school backpack and headed towards the door. Once out front she stopped and yawned, she had forgotten how much she disliked sleeping alone. She'd only managed to fall asleep after she'd gotten a long pillow from the guest bedroom and cuddled against it.

0-O-0

The ride to Luna's house was quick, thanks in part to a detour through a large cow pasture. The driver had made an offhanded comment about it not being sheep at least. Hermione stepped off the bus at the end of the lane to Luna's home; she hurried along to see her two lovers. She found them just finishing breakfast.

Mr. Lovegood looked up from his bowl of porridge as Hermione walked in. "Ah excellent. All set to go with us to the Alley?"

"Yes Mr. Lovegood." Hermione said as she made a grab for the peeled banana near Luna's plate.

Luna was too quick though and moved it out of Hermione's reach by stuffing the entire fruit into her mouth. Her cheeks ballooned out and she hastily chewed the last of her breakfast. When she finished she stuck her tongue out at Hermione. "Actually Daddy I need to talk to Harry and Hermione before we leave."

"Ah excellent, I hate having to rush porridge." Xeno took the bottle of tabasco sauce and poured a generous helping onto his porridge as the children went up to Luna's room.

As soon as Luna's door closed she said. "We've already made a big mistake; we didn't think to check ourselves for spells."

Hermione resisted the urge to slap her head. "How did we forget that? We were in the habit of doing it before we came back."

"Well while we are mature for children of our age we don't appear to be as mature as we were." Luna said.

"Alright, we'll have to work on that. For now let's check ourselves. Are you two clean?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "We didn't bother to check, you know we're both bullocks at those kinds of detection spells."

"I put up some extra wards though to throw off any tracking charms." Luna offered.

"Good, since Luna and I are probably clean I'll check us first then we'll see how bad Harry is." Hermione raised her wand and quickly checked herself and Luna, both came up with no charms. As expected though several registered when she repeated the spell on Harry. The sheer number of charms on him was mind boggling.

"How bad is it?" The number of lights that had appeared around him was not comforting.

"It's … not good. There are several tracking charms, a low powered muggle repelling charm, not enough to keep people away but enough to make people feel uncomfortable around you." Hermione said as she searched through the charms working out what each one was supposed to do.

"What's the point of that?" Harry asked.

"Maybe to make sure you didn't make friends?" Luna offered.

Hermione frowned and poked on of the lights with her wand. "Now this isn't right."

"What isn't?"

"Hang on." Hermione performed another spell, this one designed to take a basic reading of a person's magical power. It had fallen out of use when the purebloods realized it didn't support their ideas. It didn't disprove them either but it put muggle-borns closer in terms of power and they didn't like that idea. "Luna check this would you?"

Luna preformed the same spell. "This can't be right."

"That's what I thought; there must be a block on him."

"Would one of you explain what's going on?" Harry asked, unless he forced himself into the conversation Hermione and Luna could hold an entire discussion in half sentences and he would have no idea what was happening.

"Your magic reading is one ninety." Hermione said.

"That's, a bit low." Harry said with a frown.

"Well not for a normal wizard at your age but for you it is. Considering that your power was almost a thousand when you reached majority you should be around three twenty, three thirty right now." Hermione said.

When a student started Hogwarts their magical power was normally a third of what they would achieve by the time they came of age. When they reached fourth year they would be almost two thirds of their full power. When Hermione had first learned the spell and tried it on Harry his power was nine hundred and ninety seven. Dumbledore tested just twenty points lower than that when he left Hogwarts, and it was rumored that Voldemort was only a few points above a thousand. Their best guess was Merlin himself was around twelve hundred.

"So my powers blocked to about two thirds of what it should be." Harry said. He really shouldn't have been surprised.

"Correct, what I want to know is when the block was removed." Hermione said.

"Maybe it wasn't, maybe Harry broke it." Luna suggested. "Magic blocks have been known to fail at times of emotional stress or danger."

"Well that narrows it down to my entire time at Hogwarts. Can you remove the block?" Harry asked crankily.

"Maybe, I'd need to check some of the books at Potter Manor so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I can take care of the tracking and other charms now." Hermione already knew how to easily remove most, only a few were even active, the majority seemed to be set to only matter if another one they were tied to failed or was removed. So she'd start at the back on the line and worked forward.

Together the girls made quick work of most of the charms. Though there were a few that were considerably more powerful than the others. A tracking charm placed on the back of Harrys head and a charm for monitoring the general wellness of a person located at the base of his spine.

"We'll have to wait to remove these last two. They're the most powerful and seem to be tied back to something else on Dumbledore's end. I'll need to reattach them to someone else so they don't trip any alarms." Hermione pocketed her wand and stretched, she wondered if she was still young enough to get away with a nap. Preferably with at least one other person.

"I need to go grab my things from the Dursley's, provided they haven't just burned them. Could you attach the charms to Dudley?" Harry asked as they returned downstairs.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Hermione answered.

"Ah is everyone ready?" Xeno inquired; when they nodded he motioned them towards the fireplace. "Has Luna explained how to floo?"

"Yes sir." They chorused.

"Excellent, then let us be on our way." Trusting Luna to see her friends through if they had problems, Xeno was the first to step through the fire and arrive at the Leaky Cauldron. They all arrived without incident, aside from Harry falling out of the floo and proceeded into the Alley. Their plan was to finish Luna's shopping then convince Xeno to let them explore the Alley for the rest of the day. Luna assured them it wouldn't be difficult to do as he had allowed her to roam the alley by herself in the original timeline at a similar age.

Their first stop was Mr. Ollivanders for Luna's wand. When they entered the dark ship they found the aged wand maker standing in a corner, his head cocked, watching them curiously. He seemed, confused. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, are your wands no longer working for you?"

"No sir our wands are fine, we came with a friend Luna." Hermione nudged Luna forward to direct attention away from them.

"I will not ask how you know your wands still suit you. However you are both, different, then when you first came here. Should you find your wand fighting you please come back so that you can be refitted, so strange though, so different." Mr. Ollivander mumbled to himself. Then he seemed to realize he had a customer and turned his attention to Luna.

His magic tape measure jumped out of his pocket and got to work measuring her wand arm. Luna giggled as it tickled her. The wand maker nodded as he watched. "Yes yes, something strong I think. Let's see let's see, twelve and a half inches, black oak, dragon heart string. Give it a good swish."

Luna did, there was a rush of air and her father was wearing a dress. Mr. Lovegood looked down at himself. "I don't remember wearing this out. Although I do like the color and it breathes like a dream. Why can't I ever find robes like this?"

"Not quite." Mr. Ollivander took the wand and returned Xeno's clothes to normal; much to the other man's displeasure. He quietly mentioned Madam Malkin's being their next stop. "Nine inches, heartwood, dragon heart string."

This time a dozen wand boxes jumped off the shelf and hit the wand maker. He hardly seemed fazed by it; in fact he seemed almost pleased. "Well that hasn't happened it years. Maybe, why not. Fourteen inches, Cherry wood, phoenix feather."

In perhaps the most disturbing sight of the day a low table was transfigured into a wooden puppet. It looked around the room slowly before its mouth opened. "Papa, papa, do you love me now, papa?"

Three wands came up to vanish the disturbing creature but before they could the puppet sprinted across the room and out into the alley. Calmly Mr. Ollivander walked to the door, looked out, then closed it and took the wand from Luna. "I believe we should all agree not to speak of that again."

The others nodded their consent. More wands yielded more unexpected but unsatisfactory results, shoes being changed into tissue boxes, a mysterious roar that sent several shoppers in the alley running for cover, a turtle that walked around on the ceiling, on two separate occasions Mr. Ollivanders robes began to flash brilliant colors that would have made Dumbledore jealous.

Finally they found one that was not only acceptable but a perfect fit for Luna. "Ten inches, honeysuckle vine wood and unicorn hair."

When Luna swished it there was a warm breeze throughout the shop and Luna's robes turned tie dyed. "This one."

"It would seem so, excellent." Mr. Ollivander motioned around the shop with his own wand to repair any lingering damage and set it right again. Including Luna's robes, much to her displeasure.

The rest of their errands went quick and without incident, though only the promise that they would return later let them get Hermione out of Flourish and Blotts in under an hour. Luna was also right when she said it would be no problem with her father if they remained at the alley for the day. He only gave them a warning not to go into Knockturn Alley unless they were very, very careful.

Their first stop was Gringotts to find out exactly what shape Harrys finances were in. Because the bank was filled with last minute shoppers they were forced to wait several minutes until a teller was free. "Yes?"

"Hello." Harry gave a polite nod to the goblin. "I would like to speak with whoever is responsible for my accounts."

"And you are?" The teller asked snidely, still managing to appear uninterred

"Harry Potter." Harry said.

"Key?" The goblin stuck out his hand in a demanding motion.

"To my knowledge I have never been in possession of my key, which is one of the issues I would like to discuss with someone." Harry had to work to keep his tone polite.

The teller sneered at him. "Of course Mr. _Potter_. If you and your, guests, would follow me."

Harry knew goblins weren't exactly friendly but this one seemed down right foul. Hermione and Luna shrugged at his unasked question and they followed the teller back into a set of offices. Outside each door was a set of plagues with names engraved onto them. Some they recognized, Malfoy, Bones, Black. But most were new to them. The teller stopped outside a door with Potter as the first listed name. A sharp knock saw them bid entrance.

The office was plush, if you ignored the left wall which was covered in severed hands. Since each looked fresh they guessed the hands were under some type of preservation spell. The goblin behind the desk looked bored as they approached him. "I am Crackjaw, account manager for the Potter estate. I take it you are the one claiming to be Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter and these are…" Harry was cut by Crackjaw's raised hand.

"I do not care who your companions are until we have established that you are indeed Mr. Potter. Your key?" Crackjaw held out his hand impatiently.

"I've never had it." Harry explained.

Crackjaw lifted a piece of parchment. "Of the twelve hundred and ninety eight people who have come and claimed relations to the Potters you are the one hundred and thirty fourth to claim to have never had their key. Three hundred and twenty one claimed to have lost it and five hundred and forty eight claimed it was stolen. The others offered an array of excuses or fake keys. Because the Potter accounts are one of our more vulnerable accounts we have taken extra precautions."

A box on the desk popped opened; Crackjaw reached in and removed a golden bracelet. "This is one of our, most forceful, security options. If you are not Harry Potter your hand will be cut off, you can see some of the others now adorning my wall. No magic can fool it, even if you were to honestly believe yourself to be Harry Potter this will see through the deception and remove your hand. At which point you and your companions are forfeit to us."

"That's nice." Harry wondered how many people Crackjaw had scared off with this little show, or how many were stupid enough to continue on. Well except for him. Harry stuck out his arm. "But since I am me that doesn't really matter."

"Confidence will not help you." Crackjaw fitted the bracelet around Harry's wrist and tapped it. Nothing happened. Crackjaw frowned and tapped it again. Still nothing. "That has not happened before."

"So do you believe that I am Harry Potter now?" Harry asked.

Crackjaw growled before he snatched back the bracelet and removed a stone bowl and knife from his desk. "Perhaps. Place a drop of blood into the bowl."

Harry accepted the knife from Crackjaw and nicked his finger, he squeezed and a drop of blood that fell into the bowl. Before he could do anything Crackjaw's hand shot out and grabbed his hand, he held the cut finger near his face examining it. "Very well."

"What was that?" Harry demanded as he pulled his hand back.

"You would not have been the first person to attempt to offer someone else's blood as their own. This is part of the reason the bracelet is used, it tells not only of the blood the flows through you but the magic as well. There is no way to fake it throughout your body. It is also not a legal means of proving ones identity, just disproving it. We use this loophole to deal with accounts that have had several fraudulent attempts made to access them." Crackjaw explained as he watched a black quill scratch something out in Harry's blood. "Very well. I apologize for my earlier attitude Mr. Potter however when you have dealt with so many frauds it tends to become an annoying interruption to the day."

"That is alright, I would rather you be rude and my vaults secure." Harry said.

Crackjaw nodded. "Now who are your companions?"

"Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. They have my full confidence for anything we speak of here." Harry said.

"That is your choice. Now what may Gringotts assist you with today?" Crackjaw leaned back in his chair.

"Several things, as I said I have never had my key, in fact I didn't even know about the magical world until just a few weeks ago. I do not know who has my key and would like any and all keys to any vaults I have withdrawn and a new one issued for myself." Harry said.

"That is easy to do, however we will only be able to reissue your key, not that of your magical guardian." Crackjaw explained picking up the parchment he would need.

"And who would that be?" Harry asked, though he already knew.

"Albus Dumbledore."

"How is that possible? I didn't even know he existed until I received my Hogwarts letter and as far as I know have never met him." Harry asked.

"I am not sure; the ministry is responsible for appointing guardians." Crackjaw explained. "However if you wished you do have the power to place a restriction onto your guardians access to your account since he is not a blood relative."

"And that means?" Hermione asked.

"He would have to come and approve all transactions made with his key in person, as it is now anyone who presents the key has the same access."

"Do it please, and can you also provide a list of my accounts and a list of all transactions since my parents' death?" Harry requested.

"The key will take a moment; the summary of your accounts is much easier." Crackjaw withdrew a ledge from his desk. "I will leave you to review it while I see to the key."

The three humans poured over the ledger as soon as Crackjaw left the office. The results were mixed. Dumbledore had tried on multiple occasions to gain access to the main vault but for the moment his actions were limited to small annual withdrawals. However he had almost unlimited access to Harrys trust vault.

When Crackjaw returned he was displeased to see that his client as well as his guests were not happy. He set the new key before Harry. "Here is your new key."

"Thank you; can you please explain some of these withdrawals to us? Particularly the annual ones." Harry said.

Crackjaw pulled the ledger across the desk and examined the entries. "The two annual withdraws are to your guardians. The maximum amount under the law has been withdrawn each year. Five hundred Galleons a month to your magical guardian and, converted the equivalent of a thousand pounds muggle a month to your muggle guardians."

"I thought that's what it said, and I don't suppose there's anyway I can stop these payments?" Harry asked.

"Not until you are of age, unless your guardian requests it." Crackjaw confirmed.

"Wonderful, I doubt the Dursleys spent a thousand pounds on me the whole time I was there." Harry grumbled.

"I am sorry. Is there anything else I may assist you with?" Crackjaw asked, when the client was upset and you couldn't help it was often best to get them out of your office as quickly as possible. Not that he didn't have his own reasons to want them gone.

"Does Dumbledore receive any statements about Harry's vaults?" Hermione asked.

"He has only requested a statement twice, once when he first assumed his position as Mr. Potter guardian and just recently." Crackjaw flipped to a different page and showed them.

"Right after your first visit to Gringotts." Hermione said.

Luna flipped back several pages. "Harry's trust vault refills annually as well correct?"

"Yes, on the first of July. Back to five thousand galleons."

"Does Dumbledore receive a notice of withdrawals from Harry's trust vault?" Luna asked.

"Unless he requested such a service, which he has not, the guardian is only informed if the vault is completely emptied." Crackjaw informed them.

"So if Harry left three knuts Dumbledore wouldn't know unless he asked?" Hermione smiled as she caught Luna's idea.

"Correct." Crackjaw stated, it was not uncommon for pure bloods to try such things to stash a bit of money away in case they were ever disinherited.

"Well that's one thing in our favor then, unless either of you ladies can think of anything else I guess the only thing left to do is a trip down to my trust vault." Harry said, when they both shook their heads the trio went back to stand in line, when Harry asked to be taken to his vault he also purchased one of Gringotts money bags to hold the contents of his vault.

They climbed into the mine cart, Hermione latched onto Harrys arm when she saw the tracks disappearing into the darkness. "I should have waited in the lobby."

The mine cart jerked forward. Harry pulled Hermione onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her; she buried he head against him as they hit their first drop. Everyone screamed, Luna and Harry with excitement, Hermione with horror. The cart shot along the tracks, sparks flying from the wheels. When they arrived at his vault Harry helped a shaky Hermione out of the cart. He supposed it was another side effect of the merger of their older and younger self but she seemed worse than he had thought she would. She even looked a little green. "Why can't they just install elevators?"

Luna skipped cheerfully ahead. "Because elevators don't make the wizards scream like mine carts."

Their goblin guide looked shocked but quickly schooled his features. Hermione gave him a careful glance, "Is that true?"

"I'd tell you but you'd have to kill me." The goblin growled.

Hermione frowned. "Don't you mean you'd tell us but you'd have to kill us?"

"No see, it's not technically illegal for you to know, but it's treasonous for me to tell you." The goblin explained.

Luna spun around. "Don't worry our lips are sealed, in fact one of Harrys favorite things is to make purebloods scream."

Harry blushed at her seductive wink. The goblin guide just appeared confused but made no further comment as he opened the vault. As they began to fill the bag Hermione turned back to the goblin. "Do you know if any fee's for this vault are taken from this vault or the main Potter vault?"

"All fee's for trust vaults are taken from the main vault." The goblin said.

"Thank you." Hermione returned to shoveling coins into the bag. They only left three knuts in the trust vault when they stepped back into the mine cart. Luna insisted that she get to ride on Harrys lap this time. Harry put an arm around her waist and kept the other around Hermione holding her close on the way back up.

0-O-0

The rest of their shopping went quickly; they picked up a large number of potion ingredients and professional rune carving kits along with blank stones. The clerks were surprised but just as happy to sell to first years with more galleons then sense as they were older students. At the bookstore they picked up a number of books they knew wouldn't be at Potter Manor, Hermione had been both disappointed and thrilled when she realized she'd have to rebuild the library's collection from the point they first found it at.

Harry also bought the three of them bottomless book bags, which were not actually bottomless to Hermione's disappointment. She resolved to remake her bottomless beaded bag before Christmas. Still between the three of them they were able to easily carry all their purchases.

Trunks were another matter though; at first Harry wanted to buy all of them multiple compartment expanded trunks. Hermione pointed out her parents and Luna's father would notice new trunks. Luna also pointed out they knew most of the charms and runes needed and could just upgrade their own trunks and do a better job.

Finally Harry admitted they were correct. "Well I guess we just have to pick up the furry devil then."

"Harry really." Hermione scolded. But she was much too excited at the thought of seeing Crookshanks again to truly be angry. In the old time line she had sent him with her parents to watch after them. When she learned of their deaths she also learned Crookshanks had taken three Death Eaters down before they got him, two were forever disfigured and one had died as a result. Unfortunately Ron had only been one of the disfigured ones, and it wasn't even a debilitating disfigurement.

As soon as they entered the Magical Mangier a small orange squished faced kitten leapt from the top shelf and into Hermione's arms. She held up the small animal. "How adorable."

While Harry had always thought kittens looked cute; the tiny Crookshanks just looked grumpy. The darker stripes that had blended into his fur with age were still prominent enchaining his tiger like appearance. The clerk was happy to see the orange kitten leave, apparently it had already scratched up a dozen first years who had tried to pick him up. Harry paid for him as well as just about everything the store sold for cats in the hopes of buttering up the furry devil while he was still young.

They had just stepped out the door loaded down with their purchases for Crookshanks, and a few for Hedwig, when Luna was knocked to the ground.

"Watch where you are going, really they should clear the riffraff from the Alley." a young Nott said.

Harry reached down to help Luna up as he remembered the last time he had seen Nott, he along with most of the students turned Death Eaters had all died to the twins last prank. Hermione apparently remembered what he would do as well. "You're the one who ran into her, why don't you watch where you are going?"

"Why should I, I am Theodore Nott, pureblood, what are all of you? Mudbloods by the look of it. You shouldn't even be allowed here." Nott said with the typical air of superiority pureblood fanatics had.

They were shocked, had Nott always been that bad? True most of their dealings had been with Malfoy so they didn't know as much about some of the other Slytherins. Nott took their pause as acceptance and began to turn away. Only to be hissed at by Crookshanks who had set himself in front of the stores window.

"Gah! What is that abomination?" Nott cried out.

"Your reflection." Luna said without missing a beat.

"What, no right there!" Nott pointed towards the spot Crookshanks had occupied only to find it empty, the orange kitten had already jumped into one of Hermione's bags.

"Right, your reflection." Hermione said. "I suppose that's the result of inbreeding."

A few others out in the alley had stopped to watch the altercation and chuckled. Nott was ready to challenge them to a duel, if it wasn't for the fact he wasn't supposed to reveal the magic he already knew. Instead he settled for a comment about mudbloods knowing their place.

As he stepped away Harry moved into his path and roughly shoved into him, he used the action to cover slipping his wand from his shelve and casting a quick hex. It was fast and simple but the most Harry could risk with his current power level and their location. The hex would cause Nott to break wind at the worst times, the more serious or public the moment the worse it would be.

Hermione and Luna knew Harry's look all too well and they hurried out of the alley. He refused to explain what had happened until they were on the Knight Bus heading towards the Dursley's to retrieve his school supplies. Both Luna and Hermione were adamant that he wouldn't be returning there and since Luna's father didn't seem to object to an extended guest he would stay with her until Hogwarts started.

A quick sleeping spell over the house was all it took to make sure the Dursleys wouldn't bother them as they retrieved Harrys few possessions, removing several tracking charms in the process. Then it was back into the sitting room where Dudley was asleep in front of the television. It took several minutes for Hermione to move the last charm from Harry to his cousin. During that time Luna had wondered off and left a few surprises for the family that had done so much to hurt her Harry.

Hermione had also wondered off for a few minutes afterwards to leave her own presents.

0-O-0

That evening Nott attended an important dinner with his father and several of his former companions. After the fall of the Dark Lord, while Malfoy was seemingly granted the position of intern leader, or perhaps figure head would have been a better term, fractions in those that remained sprung up. Among them was the one Nott's family belonged to. Their idea was simple, watch and wait. Strike when you can and let Malfoy draw the attention of the light to himself.

Unfortunately as Nott was receiving his instructions for Hogwarts, stay in the shadows and let Draco be the figure head for the house while he helped control the true power, the hex Harry had placed upon him kicked in. Just as he was shaking hands with their fractions leader. The noise was heard throughout the dining room and several connecting rooms. Bubble head charms were quickly cast. The disappointment and outrage was clear on everyone's face, especially his fathers. In a moment Nott knew that it was the fault of the black haired boy that had shoved him earlier that day, he was the only one who had gotten close to him that day. The mudblood would pay he silently promised even as the others in the meeting made their displeasure known.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion. Also a big thank you to my beta Katzztar, thank you for all your work.)


	6. I Dub Thee Minion Fuzzy Head

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Six: I Dub Thee Minion Fuzzy Head

0-O-0

When Harry Hermione and Luna returned from retrieving Harry's school supplies from the Dursleys, and leaving behind their own little tricks, they found that Mr. Lovegood had decided to have a BBQ. Or something fairly close to one. None of them could identify what he was cooking but it smelled good and tasted better. Both Hedwig and Crookshanks sat on the table eating their own smaller portion set out by Mr. Lovegood.

After dinner Mr. Lovegood went inside and left the children around the table. Hermione absently reached out to scratch Crookshanks behind an ear when a thought crossed her mind. "Harry, did you or Luna check Hedwig for charms?"

"No, I really don't see when Dumbledore could have even put anything on her." Harry said. He had only had Hedwig for a short time and he was sure he hadn't seen Dumbledore during that limited period.

"But didn't Hagrid give her to you, and he'd do anything Dumbledore says so..." Hermione didn't need to finish. All of their heads turned towards Hedwig. The owl watched them, confused.

Harry held out his arm for Hedwig and carried her around to Hermione. Crookshanks checked out clean however a quick spell revealed two charms on the white owl, a tracking charm and another to let the caster know if she was carrying any mail. "Well the tracking charms will have shown where she went but the wards should be blocking that for now. I can remove both or transfer them."

"Transfer would probably be best. It'd buy us more time than just removing them." Harry said.

"Alright, then what should I stick them on, preferably something that can fly away and lead Dumbledore on a bit of a chase." Hermione said. Normally they could conjure something that would last long enough for them to return to school but with their now limited power she thought that feat might be beyond them.

"I'll take care of it." Luna said as she skipped into her house.

Harry and Hermione traded looks. Harry was the first to break the silence. "So, wanna bet on what she brings back?"

"Harry we could speculate all night and would probably still be wrong." Hermione set Crookshanks on her lap where he curled up for an after dinner nap.

"Probably right, I wonder what she'll come up with." They didn't need to wait long as Luna quickly returned, with a balloon floating behind her and an old tube of paint.

"That could work." Hermione said as she caught onto Luna's idea. "The paints for runes right?"

"Yup, I figure a few for protection and it'll be able to last several months." Luna said as she set back down.

Hermione grabbed Crookshanks as he tried to pounce on the balloon. Harry and Hedwig watched as Luna began to paint runes onto the balloon with Hermione making suggestions. For the tenth time he resolved to take Ancient Runes this time around, he wanted to know more than just the ones involved in wards. When she was done with the Runes Luna finished the balloon by painting a happy goat's face onto it. Hermione transferred the spells to the balloon and they released it into the growing dusk. The balloon ascended rapidly until it was nothing more than a spec on the horizon. The three humans, cat and owl went back inside the Rookery.

0-O-0

The Headmaster was finishing up one of the countless last minute forms that crossed his desk each year around this time when the tracking charm he had placed on Harry's owl gave a warning of a vast change in location, normally associated with a portkey or apparition. Curious Dumbledore watch as it settled on a new location, above Ottery St. Catchpole traveling south fairly quickly.

Now that was odd, it was the same general area the owl had disappeared from before the charms showed it in China. Could there be something in that area that was interfering with his tracking charms? The idea was preposterous but still better safe than sorry. If there was some kind of new ward there he would need to investigate it. As soon as he had the time.

0-O-0

Vernon woke to the sound of his doorbell being rung incessantly. "Knock off that racket!"

He wrenched open the door to find a deliver man standing on the porch with dozens of pizza boxes. "Sorry that took so long dude, big order. Alright two dozen extra-large pizzas, six Meaty Meat Supremes, six Veggie Specials, six Quadruple Cheese Kings and six diets. Your total is three hundred and twenty six even."

"What?" Vernon demanded as his brain tried to process what he had just been told.

"Huh?" the delivery man responded.

"What's the meaning of this, we didn't order any pizzas." Vernon shouted. Although they did smell good. Thanks to Luna's compulsion over the next several weeks anyone at the Dursleys door would have an easy time selling to them. Pizzas, vacuums, time shares in Borneo. The charms made sure that Vernon was desperate to have it. To his credit he did try to fight the magic.

The delivery man handed over the receipt. "Is that your number?"

"Yes, that's our phone number." Vernon confirmed, his eyes darting to the stack of pizzas. A little drool ran from the corner of his mouth down his multiple chins.

"Well since it's a big order we called and confirmed it, so someone here ordered them." The delivery man said.

"One moment." Vernon slammed the door and stormed into the kitchen where Petunia was asleep in a chair. He shook her. "Did you order two dozen pizzas?"

"Wha? Of course I didn't!" Petunia said.

"Well someone did and the delivery man says they called to confirm it." Vernon was sweating, his mind being drawn back towards the delicious pizzas all alone outside. They needed him.

"It's obviously a scam, send them away." Petunia said absently.

"Well, you know pizza does sound good, maybe we should just take them." Vernon reached for his wallet. "After all… where's my bloody money?"

"What do you mean where is it?" Petunia asked.

"All of my money is gone!" Vernon shouted.

In a flash Petunia was at her purse only to discover it empty as well. "Vernon! We've been robbed! Call the police!"

"Right away, as soon as I find the money to pay for those pizzas." It was twenty minutes later before Vernon finally called the police; he spent that time searching for any money left in the house. When it became clear there wasn't a single note left he went to the garage and into his hidden safe.

Petunia followed him around the entire time and glared. And once the pizzas were paid for she sat at the table and glared over the boxes. Vernon had barely hung up the phone; being assured an officer would be there soon, when the doorbell rang again. "Well that was fas…"

A man in a cheap Chinese costume stood outside. "Fifty orders of the dragon duck and twenty eight of the special pork right?"

Vernon almost yelled, almost. Until he realized something important. Forget the pizza, this, this was the food he _needed_.

0-O-0

That evening Harry Lune and Hermione 'camped out' in Luna's living room. Which meant pushing two mattresses together and using sticking charms, courtesy of Mr. Lovegood, to hang a sheet over them like a tent. When they settled down for bed Harry found himself penned between Luna and Hermione, not that he was going to complain, it was one of his favorite places.

"Are you sure your father won't mind this Luna." Hermione asked without any real concern. She was sure it would be a problem Luna would have spoken up sooner, still she had to check.

"No, as I explained last night we're all too young to do anything so he doesn't need to worry." Luna's voice was a mixture of annoyance and disappointment.

"Good, I missed sleeping with both of you last night." Hermione said and she cuddled against Harry. The feeling, while still very pleasant was different then what she remembered from the future. As far as she could tell it was a result of her younger self having had so little direct physical contact. Not that she would let that stop her.

0-O-0

Harry woke early the next morning. Hermione was still curled up against him, Luna had shifted during the night and now lay sprawled across their legs, her limbs spread across the mattress. She gave a slight snore. It took several minutes for Harry to detangle himself from the girls without waking them, slipping a pillow in for Hermione to continue to hold.

Breakfast was almost finished when Mr. Lovegood came downstairs; he looked over the food with surprise and a bit of curiosity. "This is quite impressive Harry."

"Thank you sir, I hope you don't mind that I made breakfast." Harry said from the stove, it had taken him several minutes to figure out what the extra knobs did, in some cases it had appeared to be nothing but the alarming noises from outside had convinced him to stop before he went much further then turning it on.

"Not at all, it's a nice change. Luna, bless her heart, can't seem to cook anything without large amounts of sugar in it. Is there anything I can do to help?" A quick flick on his wand had already set the table.

"No I think I have it, actually there is one thing. Luna was telling me about something her mum made. Terracotta pudding. I would like to make it for her sometime, do you have a recipe?" Harry asked. He Luna and Hermione had made several dozen attempts to recreate the pudding for Luna in the future. It proved to be a seemingly impossible task. They had been able to recreate several factors of the pudding but never at the same time. The color and texture were easiest, a slightly lumpy, terracotta color. They had never gotten the taste correct though and all their attempts failed the hardening test. Luna claimed if the pudding was allowed to sit out and harden it became not unlike Terracotta pottery. It apparently still tasted just fine as a hard candy. Harry and Hermione had their doubts about this simply because they could not imagine Luna leaving any of it to harden.

Xeno took a minute to study Harry. "I do have the recipe, technically it should be a Lovegood family secret, however I never had the heart to make it after Luna's mother passed and I am afraid if I teach it to Luna she'll never eat anything else. So I will give it to you on the condition that don't let her go overboard, deal?"

"Thank you sir." Harry smiled brightly, now he just needed to figure out the best time to make it. Maybe her birthday? He took the small pink index card from Xeno and looked over the recipe. It looked like they'd come closest on attempt 27, although after that one they'd needed to buy a new oven.

"Not a problem, I'll just wake the girls then?" Xeno offered.

"Sure, last of it is just finishing." Harry said scooping up the last of breakfast and setting it on the table. A too perky Luna all but bounced to the table, followed by a groggy Hermione. Her wild hair spread out in all direction framing her face. She flopped down at the table and grabbed the pot of coffee.

Hermione had barely taken a sip when her eyes shot open and she gagged. "Ug, that's, really strong."

Xeno smiled as he poured his own cup. "Thank you; it's very good isn't it? I have a friend down in South America that sends me some. He's involved in the Banana Rebellion."

"The what?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.

"The Banana Rebellion is a group of wizards dedicated to freeing the one true banana. You see all the bananas we eat come from tress that are magically grown copies of the one true banana tree, its being held at a breeding camp." Xeno explained as he ate.

"If there's only one what are they trying to breed it with?" Harry asked, partially curious and partially because Hermione looked about ready to bang her head on the table.

"Oh this and that. Mostly to implant banana like tendency's into other fruit. Can you imagine an apple that tasted like a banana or an orange that peeled like one? Or a full banana banana, why we'd never know the difference!" Xeno exclaimed. "The only reason I haven't written about it yet is because my friend asked me to keep it quiet until they free the true banana tree."

"Of course." Hermione nodded, after years of living with Luna she had decided politely nodding was the easiest way out of these conversations. But she made a note to suggest to Luna that she monitor who her father associated with.

After breakfast they prepared for their 'hike'. Luna must have leant Hermione some of her clothes because they both came out of her room dressed wearing green tank tops and kakis. Hermione had managed to tame her hair enough to slip it into a pony tail. "First chance I get I'm buying Sleekeazy's hair potion."

"Er, Hermione they won't come out with the long lasting stuff for a couple more years." Harry pointed out.

"Fine then I'll make my own." Hermione stated.

"You can test it on me." Luna offered as she led them into the woods around the Rookery, there was a road not far away where they would summon the Knight Bus away from prying eyes.

"Thank you but your hairs already tame so I don't know what I could learn from you using anything I come up with." Hermione said, ideas already swirling in her head, she should have most of the ingredients already. At least enough for a few tests.

"True but you can see if it does something else interesting."

"You're hoping the potion will turn your hair weird colors aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"Well I certainly wouldn't be opposed if that happened." Luna agreed.

"Fine you can help me test a few potions, but don't blame me if you end up bald." Hermione warned as they summoned the Knight Bus and paid for their trip.

"As long as Harry would love me bald, would you still love me if I was bald Harry?" Luna asked with a pout.

"Have I ever complained when you were bald before?" Harry teased.

"No, I don't believe so, well that's settled." Luna said cheerfully.

The closest town to Potter Manor was a good hike away so instead they had the Knight Bus drop them off along the road. The driver looked around confused. "You sure this is the right place?"

"This is it, thank you." They climbed off and made their way into Cauldron Woods. The entire forest belonged to the Potters and was aptly named because quite a few potion ingredients grew wild deeper in the woods. The first time they had tried to find Potter Manor was after they found a reference to it in the Black library.

The woods were considered haunted by the locals, although that was simple a result of the wards around the area. While wards naturally tended to be round, forming a bubble over a location smaller ward stone could be used to define and keep the wards restricted to a certain area. These were the two common arrangements used by most wizards; the Potters had gone in the opposite direction and used ward stone to stretch some of their wards out giving the wards an egg shape. While this weakened the wards it worked well for their design.

Potter Manor was located along the south shore of Loch Troll in the northern part of the forest. Because the northern ridge of the loch was impossible to reach by muggle means the wards were allowed to exist in their natural bubble form. While along the south end the wards were stretched to cover most of the forest. To anyone examining the outer wards it would appear the forest was the easy point of entry.

Except that the forest was pocketed with smaller independent wards placed randomly. In some places several of these wards overlapped and any force rushing into the woods was in for an interesting time. The Manor itself had siege wards that would only activate if the outer wards fell, giving the attacker no notice of them.

The Potters didn't want to hurt the people who just wondered into the woods though and placed smaller wards along the woods edge. Mild confusion wards to keep people lost but away from the deeper sections, wards to cause a feeling of fear along with muggle repelling wards. In all it worked very well to keep the location secret and protected.

Of course there was an easy way past all of the wards and other traps that had been laid throughout the woods, be a Potter or be traveling with a Potter. They had barely entered the woods when the first blue light appeared floating at eye level. Then another further in. They appeared to be will-o-wisps but were actually part of the wards, used to guide those who were allowed entry to Potter Manor. Hermione insisted Harrys ancestors all wanted to be actors because it was such a dramatic method.

"You know we'll have to re-upgrade everything when we get the chance?" Hermione pointed out.

"That'll have to wait a year or two; I don't think I have enough magic right now to pull some of that off." Because the wards were so powerful already aside from a few alterations they were left mostly alone. Instead the three of them had added guardians in the form of transfigured golems etched with runes to permanently hold their forms. After all if they were ever attacked it would probably be with an army so they'd need their own to fend them off. "Maybe we can find a few house elves soon too; we need someone to watch the wards for us."

Many of the smaller wards functioned independently of the main wards, which meant if the egg was breached they would still function. However that also meant all had their own separate ward stones to use and maintain. Most wizards simply didn't have that kind of time and refused to allow anyone else, such as a house elf, to take care of it instead.

"Well once we get that binding off of your magic you could probably do the smaller ones." Hermione said.

"Oh! Make the turtles first, they were fun and weren't overly big." Luna pleaded.

Harry smiled, the turtles were transfigured from stone and Luna had taken to riding them around the forest and shore of the loch. Even though he had created them they seemed to like her more, and after she did a bit of rune work which he'd never been able to understand they acted more alive than before.

After an hour of hiking the relatively level trail they arrived at Potter Manor, the wooden structure looked just as it had the first time they'd found it. Preservation charms and runes had maintained it over the last decade or so. The door yielded easily to Harrys touch.

As soon as they stepped in Hermione made for the library. Harry had to reach out and grab Hermione by her backpack. She struggled against his grip. "Harry, let go."

She tried to wiggle out of the straps. Harry sighed; it looked like they would have to work on her book obsession _again._ "Hermione, I have to claim the ward stone first before we can do anything else, remember?"

"Oh, right, I knew that." Hermione blushed at her mistake. She had gotten better about books in the future, really she had.

They walked down into the basement, then through another door into the subbasement. Hidden behind a false section of wall was the ward room, assessable through the subbasement or the office upstairs. Which was locked to them until Harry claimed the wards. The ward stone was actually the top of a stone pillar one of Harry's ancestors had buried to try and gain more power for the wards. Made of local stone it was several times larger than a normal ward stone to make up for being of a poorer material. The same ancestor who had buried the pillar theorized that the stone would better be able to draw on the natural magic of the area to power the wards if the stone wasn't exotic to the area. The sheer size and power of the stone prevented them from ever discovering if these theories were true or not.

Hermione and Luna stood back as Harry approached the exposed portion of the stone. Even when he had been full grown the stone had been a good two feet taller than him. Harry pulled out a camping knife that he had borrowed from Luna's basement and cut his hand. Then laid it on the ward stone in a circle of runes. "I, Harry James Potter, do claim Potter Manor as is my right by birth and blood."

The runes on the stone glowed, spreading from Harrys hand across the stone and over the floor until they filled the room. They flashed and a wave of magic was released knocking them off their feet.

0-O-0

In the Headmasters office Fawkes napped on his perch. The Sorting Hat animated and watched as one of the silver interments on a shelf near it began to spin backwards violently before it stopped. After several minutes it still remained motionless. The Sorting Hat frowned and stared intently at the instrument, finally it slowly began to turn again as it had before. The Sorting Hat chuckled. Fawkes shook himself and looked up questioningly. "Oh nothing, just remembered that joke from the sixteen hundreds about the monk, the gargoyle and the hog."

Fawkes rolled his eyes before he settled back into his nap. The Sorting Hat huffed. "As I recall you didn't think it was funny back then either, humorless bird."

0-O-0

Petunia was angry at everyone and everything. The night before delivery men kept arriving with ludicrous orders of take out, and instead of sending them packing like he should have her husband had actually paid for it all! The one time she had answered the door to show him how it was done it had been Indian take out, it was completely different when she had paid for the kim-pow curry or whatever it was called.

Then there were the officers who had been no help with their missing money. No evidence of a crime indeed, and to have the nerve to ask if they had questioned Dudley. If anyone, it was her no good freak of a nephew who had snuck back in and taken their money but they couldn't report that because then they'd have to admit he had disappeared.

Now all of the food had spoiled, oddly enough the food she had put in the fridge was actually _worse_ than that which had been left out. All of it was ruined though; the smell had nearly knocked her out that morning when she got up for breakfast.

It had taken hours to throw it all away and air out the kitchen. Honestly it was as if the fridge was cursed, literally everything inside it had spoiled. Why there was even mold on the ice cubes! At least the food they left out was easy to throw away.

But now she could finally relax, Petunia sat down at the table and prepared to read the latest gossip column with her afternoon tea. And her chair collapsed.

0-O-0

"Hermione, Luna?" Harry called out as he rolled over and groaned. That had hurt.

"We're fine." Luna called back. It was several seconds before their eyes were able to see again. Everything seemed to be the same in the chamber, the ward stone hummed gently as it became fully active. "Did the wards connect?"

Harry took a moment to find the familiar link to the wards in the back of his mind. "Seems so. Hang on and I'll add both of you."

The process of adding a person to the wards was fairly simple, only requiring Harry to pass permission to the wards to let the person though. Tying Hermione and Luna in was a little more difficult and involved a repeat of the process Harry had just performed.

Once both were properly added Hermione dragged them to the library and began to search for the books she needed. Luna quickly joined in her hunt for the necessary ritual to break the block on Harry. While they were both busy Harry went to retrieve the spare wands that they had used last time. As he walked through the halls he noticed that even under preservation charms everything would still need a good cleaning.

When he got back to the library there was a small stack of books on the table and more spread open before them. Hermione looked up from her reading and grabbed another book. "Good you're back. Stand still I need a detailed reading of the block on you so we can break it with as little pain as possible."

Setting the extra wands aside Harry moved to the middle of the room and stood still while Hermione cast the more complex detection spell. Her sudden bout of cursing was not reassuring. "That bastard! How could he! Luna find the curse that causes facial hair to strangle its owner. Dumbledore is in for a surprise when we get to Hogwarts."

"Er, Hermione not that I don't agree with getting Dumbledore, why the sudden hostility?" Harry figured it was something to do with his block but it was better to get Hermione talking in these situations instead of plotting.

"We were wrong, you don't have a block, you have a lock." Hermione explained.

"Pretend I have no idea what the difference is." Harry suggested, since he really didn't.

"Alright a block will grow with a person. If your power is two hundred and you have a fifty percent block you can only use a hundred, if your power grows to three hundred the power you can use grows to one hundred and fifty. But a lock doesn't change. It doesn't matter how strong you become because the lock will only let you use the set amount of power. Right now that isn't too bad, but in a few years you won't be any stronger no matter how much your magic grows." Hermione explained.

"But you can still remove it right?" Harry asked, this sounded a bit more complicated than a block.

"Of course we can, it'll just hurt more." Hermione said.

"Well I'm no stranger to pain. Let's get this lock off." Harry struck a heroic pose to try and reassure them.

"Well need to go to the basement, the rune circle is pretty big." Hermione began to gather up the books.

Harry noticed Luna had been quiet since Hermione mentioned the lock; he went over and put an arm around her. "Hey, you alright?"

"No, that bastard put a lock on you; they used to do that to prisoners before it was deemed inhuman. He did something to you they won't even do to prisoners in Azkaban." Luna pulled Harry's arm tighter around her. "It's just not fair."

"No it's not but it's in the past, we'll get rid of the lock and be done with it." Together the three of them walked into the basement and cleared out one of the larger store rooms, in the future they had set it up for a few of the rituals they had done. Luna pulled out her paints and along with Hermione they began to draw out the runes. When they were done the circle spread to the corners of the room and up the wall.

Hermione doubled checked the last part of the circle. "Harry, maybe we should wait. If we could find the key spell Dumbledore used to tie off the lock it wouldn't hurt nearly as much when we remove it."

"But it'd still hurt, and there's no guarantee we could find the spell right? It's better to just get it over with." Harry took his place in the middle of the circle.

"Er, Harry we aren't finished yet, we need to paint some runes onto you." Hermione blushed.

"Oh, eh, right. Where exactly?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Luna happily handed Hermione another bottle of paint. "Just your chest and legs, so strip."

"Wait what? You mean, right now?" Harry asked, his mind, for all that it knew he had done far more then strip in front of them before had frozen.

"It's alright Harry, remember what we talked about?" Luna said kindly as she started to unbutton his shirt.

"What did you two talk about?" Hermione asked.

"Oh I just told Harry that he has nothing to be embarrassed about just because he's a scrawny child again. None of us have any of the fun bits yet." Luna explained.

"That's true, and a surprisingly mature view." Hermione said slightly confused, normally Luna was the more childlike among them.

Harry shrugged off his shirt, blushing. _It'll be no different than if we went swimming._ He repeated to himself several times. "I figured she was channeling you somehow."

"Hey I can be perfectly mature on my own." Luna articulated her point by stamping her foot and sticking out her tongue.

Taking a deep breath Harry pulled off his pants, they joined his shirt in the unmarked corner of the floor. Harrys blush deepened and spread down his chest. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Hey! Those are my boxers!" Luna cried. "I can't believe you stole them."

"Really? After all the times you and Hermione took my clothes? Besides it was either this or wear Dudley's old pair." Harry retorted.

Both girls made a disgusted face. "Never mind, keep them."

Harry couldn't help but shiver as they painted the last runes on him. The brush swirled around his stomach. They stepped back and Hermione raised her wand to begin. "Are you sure Harry?"

"I am." Harry said from his seated position in the middle of the circle. He felt the runes heat as they began the incantation to remove the lock. He gritted his teeth as the runes burned, though there was no outwards sign it felt as if they were burning through his flesh right down to the bone, and he knew what that felt like. His muscles twitched as they urged him to move away from the pain.

Then they rapidly cooled and Harry left out a long sigh, that hadn't been so bad. As Hermione finished the incantation the true pain came. It began deep within, thousands of burning needles pushed out from a single point. The last thing Harry saw was his body thrashing, Hermione and Luna ran towards him as he collapsed.

0-O-0

For the second time that day the Sorting Hat animated as something else within the Headmaster's office changed. A silver medallion setting near it cracked. The alarm ward tied to the medallion barely had time to sound before the Sorting Hat silenced it. "Can't sleep with all that racket."

He settled back in to finish his summer nap.

0-O-0

Harry managed to choke out a groan. He tried to remember the battle he had just been in; judging by how he felt it had to have been bad. Something moved nearby. "Harry?"

Slowly Harry forced his eyes open; he also became aware of something tight around his left arm. Hermione's face hovered above him. He managed to groan. "What happened?"

Hermione pulled him into a tight hug; whatever was wrapped around his left arm resisted the movement. "I'm sorry I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, now what happened? Were we attacked?" Harry pulled her close.

"No, it was the ritual; it was more painful than I thought it would be. How do you feel?" Hermione didn't wait for a reply knowing full well Harry wouldn't tell the truth. Instead she began casting diagnostic spells.

"Like that time we fought those Death Eaters at the quidditch factory and Luna released all the bludgers at once." Harry said, he turned over to see what was wrong with his left arm and found Luna had it in a death grip even while asleep. "Is Luna alright?"

"Just worried, she's afraid you'll be angry with us and leave." Hermione said in a small voice. It took him a moment to realize she had a similar fear. He didn't understand it but he knew if he was worried about losing either of them he'd be in worse shape than her.

"Why would I do that? Especially after all the years we've been together?" Harry tried to figure out the blonde's reasoning and failed.

"On one level we know that, but on another it's a very real fear to our younger selves." Hermione explained as she examined the results of her charms. "Well the good news is that the lock is gone and your power is almost three sixty."

"That's higher than expected." Harry said, that would put his final power at a thousand eighty.

"I think that in our time the lock caused problems and never let you reach your full power. Maybe the pressure on your magical core stunted it." Hermione thought out loud.

"Well a bit more power is nice. How long was I out?"

"Just over an hour, the pain should finish fading soon but it looks like you'll be sore for a while." Hermione explained.

"Alright, we should probably head home soon, I'll wake Luna." Harry rolled over as best he could and gently shook the small girl. "Luna, come on wake up."

Luna blinked her eyes before they focused on Harry, at which point she held on even tighter to his arm and buried her head against him mumbling apologies. Harry's stroked her hair with his free hand. "Luna, it's alright, I'll be fine, the locks gone and I'm not angry, really."

"Really?" Luna sniffed.

"Really. Come one we should be getting back to your house." Harry helped her off the bed and the three made their way out of the manor. As Harry made sure the wards were properly set on the front door he voiced a question that he had been meaning to ask. "While we're here should we try appariting? I don't really fancy a hike back through the wood."

"Well. We could try, but are you sure you're up to it? I mean after what you've been through you could splice yourself." Hermione warned.

"I've apparated through worse." Harry assured her.

"Fine, but we start small, just around the yard." Hermione insisted.

Half an hour later the group popped into existence near the road. None of them had had the slightest trouble with apparition. Though Harry was still limping slightly from the pain in his muscles when they summoned the Knight Bus. When the attendant saw Harry he grunted. "What happened to you kid?"

"Took a tumble hiking, nothing to worry about." Harry said trying at act tough. Either it worked or the attendant didn't care because he waved them on. The jarring bus ride back to the Rookery was far from pleasant for Harry. Thankfully Mr. Lovegood was out when they arrived back and they were all able to make their way up to Luna's room before Harry collapsed face first on her bed.

"I feel like I've just been through a week of Wood's quidditch practice." Harry groaned.

"Well we could probably come up with something to help you with that." Hermione offered.

"Some kind of pain relief potion?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Sorry none brewed yet, I was thinking a massage." Hermione climbed onto the bed and began to work on his shoulders. Harry groaned as his muscles relaxed. Luna quickly joined in and went to work on his lower back. They moved onto his arms and legs, when they were finished Harry reminded her of a half melted candle.

Luna hated to disturb him but there was one more thing she wanted to get done before her father returned. "Harry, Hermione, I found a ritual that we can perform now that I think will help us."

"Which one is it?" Hermione asked cautiously. This wouldn't be the first time Luna had tried to trick them with a fake ritual, though the fifty gallons of pudding had been a dead giveaway.

"It's the familiar bonding ritual. It speeds up the process of bonding with a familiar. I wanted to wait until Harry's lock was removed before I suggested it." Luna said.

"Why haven't I ever heard of it?" Hermione asked, it sounded very useful.

"Well how many people older than students do you know with familiars?" Luna asked.

Hermione considered it for a moment. "Only Dumbledore."

"Exactly. Most witches and wizards just don't bother. To many a familiar is just a pet that's a bit smarter than others. However according to the notes on the ritual a familiar that belongs to a powerful witch or wizard may actually be able to communicate with them. I think Harry counts as powerful enough. And if nothing else it will add a little magic to Hedwig and Crookshanks as well as a bit more intelligence." Luna pulled out the book with the ritual in it and handed it to Hermione.

"So worst case scenario is they get a little smarter and stronger?" Hermione asked examining the ritual.

"Yup, best case is you'll be able to actually understand them, I made a slight change that should let all three of us understand each of them." Luna pointed the change out to Hermione to look over.

"Well it looks good, certainly it won't hurt anything. What do you say Harry? Up for another ritual?" Hermione asked.

Harry groaned and rolled over. "Will there be more pain?"

"Shouldn't be." Hermione said, a quick check of the notes confirmed it. "How long have you been working on this Luna?"

"I may have spent a bit of time before we came back working on the idea." Luna admitted.

"Want Crookshanks and I to go first Harry?" Hermione asked.

"No, it's fine. So Hedwig up for an adventure?" Hedwig glided to land on his shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes."

The familiar bonding ritual was surprisingly simple; Harry supposed it really was a case of older magic users just not wanting to bother with a familiar. Luna carved out a few of the blank plates they had picked up in Diagon Alley while Hermione brewed the simple potion. The original potion called for a drop of blood from both Harry and Hedwig, since blood magic was outlawed the alternate formal called for a hair from Harry and a feather from Hedwig. Hermione made a slight alteration to help the potion get closer to what it once was.

Hermione set aside another dose of the potion for her and Crookshanks before she added Harry's hair, absently she wondered what would happen if you preformed the ritual with another person. Harry would make a good familiar; she shook her head to clear the thought.

When the potion was done she gave it to Harry, then she and Luna each stood on one of the extra plates that should tie them into the ritual, and if Harry was able to understand Hedwig then theoretically they should be able to as well.

Harry passed one of the vials to Hedwig who gripped the rim with her beak, she threw her head back and chugged the potion. Harry blinked in surprise but quickly did the same with his own. For a moment nothing happened until the after taste hit. Harry shuddered in revolution. Not as bad as polyjuice but it was close.

"_Ug, that was worse than the time I tried to eat a Binya binya."_ It took everyone a moment to realize they had just heard Hedwig speak.

Luna was the first to recover. "What's a Binya binya?"

"_A giant yellow polliwog. Oh, you've all learned to understand me, good."_ Hedwig sounded exceptional pleased.

Hermione grabbed the book and looked over the ritual again. "Impressive, I thought the most we'd be able to get were some strong feelings. Though there is one thing that concerns me, since this ritual is supposed to alter Hedwig's intelligence based on Harrys, she might actually be a bit dimmer then she was before."

"Hey!" Harry cried out. "That's not… Hedwig! Stop laughing! Hermione just do yours, I'm out numbered three to one by smart girls, maybe Crookshanks will side with me."

Hermione and Crookshanks quickly traded places with Harry and Hedwig and repeated to process. Hermione leaned in expectantly. "Well? Can you talk too now?"

"_I have always been able to speak, I am glad you have finally learned to listen correctly."_ Crookshanks voice was surprisingly high pitched. _"I knew I picked a smart minion, not like those others, always poking me with their tiny fingers."_

"Excuse me? Minion?" Hermione asked.

"_Yes, you are my minion, you feed me, groom me, take care of me, so I dub thee minion fuzzy head."_ Crookshanks proclaimed.

"_A bit full of himself isn't he?"_ Hedwig said as she watched the small kitten strut around on the floor, pleased that his minion was so smart.

"_Silence feathered creature, I am the mighty Crookshanks! You will show me respect or I shall eat you!"_

"_Eat me? I'm over three times your size."_ Hedwig pointed out.

"_That does not matter, I am a feline, and you are but a lowly feathered one, nothing but food and entertainment."_ Crookshanks retorted.

"_Oh really?"_ Hedwig suddenly disappeared with a small pop and reappeared behind Crookshanks, her wings flared out. _"Boo!"_

Crookshanks yowled and jumped back, disappearing, his disembodied voice sounded from several feet away. _"You would dare to upset the natural order! I shall feast upon your, er, plumage! Yes feast I say!"_

Hermione moved towards Crookshank's voice and carefully felt around, her fingers brushed his fur and she picked him up. "Harry did Hedwig just apparate?"

"Only if that's an invisible Crookshanks you're holding." Harry said.

Luna looked between the still laughing Hedwig and the hissing, invisible Crookshanks. "I really need to find a Crumpled Horn Snorkark."

0-O-0

(A/N: Well this came out longer then I planned but I wanted to get them back to Hogwarts in the next chapter. As always a big thank you to my beta Katzztar who helped me work out the ideas of a block vs. a lock. Also thanks to teedub for inspiring some of the Dursleys punishment in this chapter.)


	7. Ghost on the Hogwarts Express

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Seven: Ghost on the Hogwarts Express

0-O-0

It took some time to calm Crookshanks down, and even longer to coax him back into the visible spectrum. However once he figured out how to become invisible at will he would disappear again and again, the only clue to his location was the sound of him running around the room laughing. Or the occasional hiss as Hedwig would pop to wherever he was hiding. _"How do you do that? You can't see me can you?"_

"_No, but I am a post owl, I can find anyone whom I have a letter for."_ Hedwig said.

"_You have a letter for me? Is it from another minion?"_ Crookshanks asked excitedly.

"_No, but I can use the same magic that allows me to find the person I have a delivery for to find others close by, even without having mail for them. Though I believe I can always find you since our humans did, well whatever they did."_ Hedwig tried to explain, the concept of the ritual was still difficult for her to fully grasp. Though she understood some of the results.

"_I see, this will make my plans to stalk and eat you more difficult. Unless…. Surprise!"_ The still invisible kitten jumped towards Hedwig who simply popped to the other side of the room. Crookshanks smacked headfirst into Luna's dresser and became visible again.

Harry and Luna watched them with a mixture of amusement and curiosity while Hermione pored over the book Luna had gotten the ritual from. "This is useless, there's no mention of anything like this happening before."

"We could always ask Daddy, the book is from our family library so he might know more." Luna suggested.

"Won't we get in trouble for performing magic?" Hermione asked, Mr. Lovegood might be a bit strange but would he overlook something like this?

"No, because we didn't actually break any rules. We used potions and runes, neither of which really counts towards underage magic since they don't involve a wand." Luna said as Crookshanks ran between her feet towards Hedwig, he had forgotten to make himself invisible this time.

"What about when you charged the runes?" Harry asked, that had used a wand.

"That was a passive use of magic, so again it doesn't count either. But even if it did I'm sure Daddy would be too interested in Hedwig and Crookshanks to be upset." Luna assured them. With no better ideas they agreed to ask Xeno when he returned home.

0-O-0

Xeno returned to the Rookery that evening after putting the finishing touches on the next issue of the Quibbler. He wasn't surprised to see that Harry and Hermione were still there, playing a card game with Luna on the coffee table. What was a bit of a shock though was that Harry's owl Hedwig seemed to also be playing, and winning if the stack of galleons in front of her was any indication. Hermione's kitten sat near her, a galleon clutched between his paws and he bit at it again and again. "Good evening everyone."

"Daddy!" Luna jumped up from the table and rushed to hug him. Hedwig took the opportunity to peek at her cards, then set her own hand down and folded. "We had a question about the familiar bonding ritual."

"Oh? Does one of you want to give it a try?" Xeno asked as it truly was an interesting ritual; he himself had performed it while he was in Hogwarts with his pet toad, though all he had gotten from it were vague feelings and impressions, mostly about food. And a taste for beetle soup. Speaking of which he should make some soon.

"We already did." Luna explained.

"Is that why Hedwig is playing poker?" Xeno wondered aloud.

"No, that's just to kill time until you got home. There were side effects." Luna explained.

"Oh dear, did someone grow extra appendages?" Xeno wasn't sure how he would explain that.

"No."

"Lose appendages?" Again hard to explain, but easier to solve.

"No."

"Does it involve a furless raccoon?" That was always a mess.

"Not that I know of." Luna said, she wondered what her father had gotten up to before that would result in a furless raccoon.

"Well than I doubt it's too bad. What happened?" Xeno asked.

To answer his question Hedwig appeared on his shoulder. Xeno looked at the owl and blinked, then turned back to the table where a galleon had lifted out of Hedwig's pile and was floating back towards Hermione's. Hedwig appeared on the table; her wing shot out and brushed the air behind the galleon. Crookshanks appeared as he rolled across the table and hissed at her. Hermione reached out and picked up the angry kitten, stroking his fur. "That was very rude Hedwig, and Crookshanks watch your language."

Hedwig barked at her and Hermione's frown deepened. "I don't care if you were just showing Mr. Lovegood, that's no excuse to hit Crookshanks."

"You can understand them? Both of them?" Xeno asked surprised.

"Luna made an alteration to the ritual so we could all understand both of them." Hermione explained.

"Really?" That was amazing, Xeno felt pride swell in his chest.

"Yes Daddy, it's more convenient this way." Luna said.

"Incredible. Would you mind if I wrote about this in the Quibbler? I'm sure it would make a wonderful article."

The three traded looks before Harry spoke. "Er, if it's all the same to you sir we'd prefer if you didn't. We'd like to keep this quiet in case we're ever in trouble. Also I don't want any more fame."

"Oh yes, good points, I hadn't thought about that." Xeno admitted, sometimes his love for the Quibbler overran his common sense, what little he would admit to having that was.

"No problem, so, do you have any ideas why Hedwig can apparently apparate and Crookshanks can turn invisible?" Harry asked.

"Well, I have heard old stories that when a creature bonds to a very powerful witch or wizard there is a small chance they may gain a magical ability. To be honest it always sounded a bit farfetched to me." Xeno said. Harry and Hermione chose to ignore the fact that he already believed in some pretty farfetched ideas. "I'll gladly keep an eye out for any information on the subject though."

"Thank you Mr. Lovegood."

0-O-0

The remainder of the summer passed quickly. For the first few days Crookshanks had to remain at Luna's until Hermione was able to get her parents to agree to let her get a kitten. During that time Crookshanks alternated between trying to 'hunt' Hedwig and learning to hunt from her. Crookshanks quickly learned that he enjoyed dropping down on his prey from above.

They alternated their days between Luna's house and Hermione's. While at Luna's Hermione carried out magical experiments. They discovered that whatever Hedwig did it was not apparition, or if it was it was different enough that normal apparition wards didn't seem to affect her. Not even house elf wards did. Hermione theorized that it could be some kind of avian travel closer to what phoenixes did. This led to the idea to have Hedwig masquerading as a phoenix should they ever need to make use of her ability.

It took Hermione and Luna two days to figure out how to attach a transfiguration to a band that could fit around Hedwig's foot. When active it would perform a living transfiguration to give her the appearance of a phoenix. While a glamor would have been easier to make it was also easier to see through.

Changing a creature's form was not that difficult, but it was impossible for a transfigured creature to have any of the magical abilities of the creature they were transfigured into. So while many people could make a normal bird look like a phoenix only Hedwig would be able to replicate their method of travel. Furthering the illusion, a glamor that would activate whenever she apparated and cause flames to appear was the finishing touch. Hedwig's only request upon seeing her phoenix transfiguration was that her color be changed to purple, when asked why she simply replied that purple was the color of royalty. Seeing no harm in it Hermione made the change.

They also studied Crookshanks' invisibility. At Luna's, he tripped most wards they set; however, he was all but undetectable to charms. They were unsure if this was due to his invisibility or the fact that he was not human, there were so few charms that checked for non-human entities. Which was why Rita Skeeter was so successful with her beetle form.

While at Hermione's house she would shine a light at him and look for any distortions behind him. She had performed similar tests in the future using Harry's invisibility cloak. They had to be careful though as Hermione had decided not to tell her parents she could understand Crookshanks or that he could turn invisible until at least Christmas.

Harry managed to act more or less normal around Hermione's parents on the few occasions he met them, and thankfully Luna didn't make any inappropriate comments when they were in earshot. By the first of September Hermione's mother had all but adopted Luna as a second daughter, this may have been helped by the fact that Xeno had asked the Grangers to act as Luna's muggle guardians should the need ever arise. This in turn led to discussions about magical guardians. To say the Grangers were a bit upset that no one had told them would be an understatement. Harry and Hermione suspected Luna had somehow orchestrated the entire conversation because by its end Xeno was appointed as Hermione's magical guardian. Luna refused to tell them if it was intentional though.

Hermione suspected there may also have been the use of a compulsion charm but she wasn't going to raise the issue since it fit well into their plans.

0-O-0

"All set Hermione? Did you remember everything? Extra toothbrushes?" Jean asked as her daughter came down for breakfast before they left for King's Cross station.

"Of course, mum. I'm all packed. I have been for two days." Hermione said, technically a lie but it's what her parents would expect, packing charms were so useful.

"Good, I'll just run upstairs and grab your trunk, hope you didn't load it down with books." Dan stood to retrieve his daughter's luggage but she stopped him.

"No need, I have it all right here." Hermione pulled her shrunken trunk from her pocket. "Luna loaned me a book on runes and Harry let me borrow some carving tools, it was surprisingly easy."

Dan leaned in close; the matchbox sized trunk did look like the one he had bought for her. "Er, it gets big again right?"

"It would be fairly useless if it didn't, wouldn't it?" Hermione set it on the floor and tapped the trunk with her wand. It expanded back to its normal size, Hermione popped it open so her parents could see everything inside was still fine. "Runes are amazing, at some point in the past people figured out certain symbols reacted to magic and created certain effects, they experimented and discovered which symbols did what and then built whole languages around them!"

"So you just carved a few letters into it and poof it'll shrink?" Jean was amazed at what her daughter had already learned to do.

"Well runes, most are a bit more complicated than normal letters, though that also depends on which rune set you use. Norse runes tend to be the easiest. And it was more than just a few, seventy two to be exact. The original rune matrix needed over five hundred but over time people found ways to cut it down with compressed runes." Hermione explained as she re-shrunk her trunk and slipped it back into her pocket.

Hermione had briefly had the idea of taking the Knight Bus to Kings Cross with her parents, until she realized they'd have no way to return. So instead she settled into the family car as they drove to London. The station was just as crowded as she remembered and after a long goodbye with her parents she stepped through the barrier onto platform nine and three quarters. A minute later she stepped back out and went to a small coffee stand set up nearby to wait for Harry and Luna.

0-O-0

"Are you sure you won't come with us, Daddy?" Luna asked her father.

"I'm sorry, little moon but I don't think I could bear to let you go if I came with you to the station." Xeno said sadly.

"I understand. Thank you for letting me go to Hogwarts with Harry and Hermione." Luna wrapped her arms around her father's waist and gave him the tightest hug she could muster. Which was surprisingly tight as Xeno found out.

"And you'll watch after her Harry?" Xeno fixed his gaze on the boy.

"I'll protect her with my life. If anyone tries to harm her they'll find out why Voldemort feared the Potters." Harry was pleased to see Mr. Lovegood barely shuddered at Voldemort's name.

"Thank you, now you had better get going. Oh did you remember to pack your corks?"

"Of course Daddy, we'll see you soon, Christmas isn't very far away." Luna said as they left the Rookery. They were running a little behind already because Mr. Lovegood had insisted on taking quite a few pictures of them that morning.

When they reached the road Harry held out his wand to summon the Knight Bus. Nothing happened. They traded looks and he tried again. Luna made the third attempt. When there was still no sign of the triple decker purple bus they were ready to apparate to the station. Just as they were about to leave the bus appeared with a loud crash. The doors slammed open and the driver glared down at them. "You got any idea how busy it is today? No need to keep summoning, it's rude."

The bus was packed with children and teens, trunks littered the aisle. Harry and Luna barely made it to a seat on the second deck before the bus jumped forward and they were off. Harry tumbled back into the seat, Luna landed on top of him. She only shifted enough so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable for him. Harry's arms wrapped around her waist. "Why is it so crowded today?"

"It's always like this on the first. This is what the Knight Bus was designed for. The rest of the year it's just convenient." One of the other students, a large Ravenclaw answered.

It was another twenty minutes, and several more stops before they arrived at Kings Cross station and the driver told them all to get off. The last student had barely stepped from the bus before it jerked its way back into traffic, cutting off a cab driver who looked around confused as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

They walked inside with the rest of the students but detoured when they reached the platform and met up with Hermione. She looked up from her coffee as they set down. "No Hedwig?"

"She decided to sleep in and pop over to the school later. Where's the Furry Devil?" Harry asked as he glanced around for the kitten. He didn't mention Hedwig would also be taking his fake trunk with her and depositing it with the rest, incase Dumbledore decided to take a peek at his things before they arrived in his dorm.

"I wish you'd learn to get along with Crookshanks Harry." Hermione sighed in exasperation.

"Hey I am, he thinks the nickname is cool." Harry defended himself.

"Oh, well all right then, I guess. He's on the express already. He said he would save us a compartment." Hermione explained, she had decided it was best not to think too hard on how he intended to do that.

"So has there been any sign yet?" Luna asked.

"No, but according to what Harry said we still have about five minutes before they show up."

"Good, then I'm getting something to drink while we wait." Luna said, her idea of a drink was closer to liquid sugar. Hermione felt a toothache coming on just watching the blond drink the concoction in her cup.

"There they are." Hermione gestured towards Molly and her children.

As Harry watched them approach the barrier to the platform he felt the old hatred towards most of them. Except for the twins, they all owed the twins more than they could ever pay back.

_Harry crouched in the ditch with Hermione and Luna on either side. The three of them were leaning heavily against each other. Nearby the Burrow groaned, the large hole the twins had made to rescue them couldn't have been good for its structural integrity. Smoke rolled off the broken wood beams. They were pinned down by a couple dozen Death Eaters, mostly those who had been their classmates._

_It was over a hundred meters to the edge of the wards; they'd never be able to make it in their condition. Hermione leaned tiredly on Harry; the gash on her side looked ugly. The twins traded grim looks. "Harry, Hermione, Luna. On behalf of the Weasley's we would like to apologize…"_

"_For what our ex family has tried to do…"_

"_Dear brother, I do believe there is only one way to restore the family honor…"_

"_I believe you are correct brother of mine. Our finest prank…"_

"_Our final prank. Get ready to run." They cast a charm on the others clothes and pulled a potion from their pocket._

_Hermione grimaced as a bludgeoning hex hit the tree above them. Splintered wood peppered their backs. "What are you planning to do?"_

"_We told you, our finest, final prank. The culmination of all of our research…"_

"_Even if we didn't mean to make it, that was a messy day…"_

"_Indeed. Harry, thank you for letting us live our dream, we've left the store to you."_

"_Wait." Harry called out but the twins had already linked arms and downed the potions. Together they jumped up and charged the group of Death Eaters._

"_For the Marauders!" The twins shouted, the Deaths Eaters smirked and cast the killing curse, it struck the twins. And did nothing. The twin's heads slumped down but they kept up the charge. It was only later Hermione figured out that they had charmed their clothes to keep them running even after they died._

_The Death Eaters froze when the twins didn't fall, it cost them seconds before they threw every curse they knew in a panic. When the curses tore through them and they finally fell everyone learned the twins final prank. The explosion tore through Burrow's yard and killed all of the Death Eaters present. _

_Harry used himself to cover Hermione and Luna. Before the dust had settled they were making their way towards the ward line. They would mourn the twins when they were safe. The store had been destroyed the next day._

Silently Harry swore they'd have their shop again, it was the least he could do. Hermione unconsciously touched her side where the scar from that day had been as she and Luna glared at the two youngest along with their mother. As they walked along Molly kept a tight hold on Ginny's hand and spoke loudly of muggles and platform nine and three quarters. Molly's eyes darted around the station, clearly looking for someone. Luna drew her wand. "Let me have a little fun. I'll make her think some random kid is Harry, the police can arrest her then."

"And scare some poor child?" Hermione asked. "She's on the list, let's leave her for now. We have plenty of time."

"Fine but if she tries anything with Harry…" Luna didn't need to finish, they all knew how creative she could be.

"Agreed." Harry said. "And if she does anything to either of you I can throw her under the express."

"Alright, if we have time. I don't want to be late." Hermione compromised. "Oh look, I think they've given up. You know even without the loud talk about muggles there's a red flag about them showing up right now."

"What's that?"

"They were here before the last minute." Hermione said. The three of them made their way through the barrier; Harry had a hat pulled low over his head to keep from being recognized by Molly. The express gave a warning blast of its whistle. Harry and Hermione jumped on.

Luna was about to follow when someone called her name. She cursed and turned to face Ginny. The red head gave her a curious look. "What are you doing here? Did you come to see Harry Potter too? We've been looking for him but no one has seen him, what if he misses the train? But maybe if he did we could take him there ourselves."

The blush on Ginny's face was enough to make Luna sick, she was well aware of the kind of thoughts Ginny was having. Not that she didn't have similar but she had permission from Harry. "No, I'm going to Hogwarts."

"What was that dear?" Molly said as she walked over.

"I was just telling Ginny that I am going to Hogwarts, now I must be going or I'll miss the express." Luna turned and tried to get on the train but a hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't be ridiculous dear, you're too young, now come along and I'll take you home. You and Ginny can go next year." Molly tried to drag Luna away from the express.

"Wait, Mrs. Weasley I am going, let me go!" Luna tried to pull her arm free but the woman had at least two hundred pounds on her.

Molly drew her wand. "Now none of that, you'll do as I say or it's the spanking hex for you. I don't care what you think you'll…"

She was cut off as she fell to the ground twitching. Luna yanked her arm free from Molly's grasp as the woman toppled over, managing to _accidently_ kick her while she was at it. Luna turned to find Harry with his wand trained on Molly. "Thank you Harry."

"No problem."

The train lurched forward on the track, Luna and Harry retreated to catch it. Leaving a still twitching Molly on the platform. Hermione hung out the door, her hand extended. She grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her on. They staggered inside.

"A little help." Harry called out, he was about to run out of platform. Both girls leaned out and grabbed his hands, hauling him on just as they left the station.

"What the bloody hell was that!" They all looked up to find the sixth year female Ravenclaw prefect looking down at them.

"Some old lady tried to kidnap my friend." Harry explained. The prefect looked skeptical as they explained what happened. Harry thought it was only that they didn't have a house yet that kept the prefect from taking points. When she finally let them go they went in search of Crookshanks.

It wasn't difficult to figure out where he was as there were rumors up and down the train about a haunted compartment. So unless whatever they had done in the last month or so had more of an effect than they thought the so called ghost was just a rambunctious kitten.

A group of students was clustered around the haunted compartment. One of the older years stopped Hermione as she reached for the handle. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, rumor has it there's a nasty ghost riding the train this year."

"Really? Harry Luna, do either of you have a problem sharing a compartment with a ghost?" Hermione asked.

"Can't be worse than Dudley." Harry said.

"I ain't afraid of no ghost." Luna sang. This earned some laughs from the muggle-borns. They stepped into the compartment and closed the door behind them, drawing the curtains closed.

Crookshanks appeared on the seat looking completely pleased with himself. _"I told you I would save you a compartment."_

"That you did, but really pretending to be a ghost?" Hermione pulled him onto her lap and began to scratch under his chin.

"_I wasn't at first but after a few children made the comment I decided to play along." _Crookshanks rolled over to give her better access to his favorite scratching places.

If anything their ride was one of their more eventful ones as every student had to see the haunted compartment for themselves. Most went away disappointed as the rumors were that it was filled with bloody hand prints and torn seats, the truth was very disappointing. Unfortunately not all of their visitors were content to leave disappointed. The prefect they had already met among them. "So it was you lot spreading rumors of a ghost."

"No, we heard the rumors and thought we'd get some peace in here, sadly that hasn't been the case." Harry had barely glanced up from his book, one of many they had taken from Potter Manor to study.

"I think you're all just trying to get attention. As soon as you're sorted I'll be speaking with your head of house." The prefect said.

Luna glared at her, she remembered this prefect from her first year, she had helped encourage her treatment by making sure no one would help her. "Why? We didn't start the rumor and have broken no school rule."

"Don't lecture me little firsty or I'll have you in detention so long your da will think you're just another fictional animal he made up." Her sneer was replaced by shock as something brushed past her leg. She spun around. There was a hiss in front of her and something hit her shoulder. The luggage racks rattled. "What, what is this?"

It couldn't be a ghost, she'd met ghosts before. But there was something, the three first years seemed completely unconcerned. The Lovegood brat was actually smiling. She drew his wand. "Whatever you're doing sto…"

A force hit her wand and ripped it from her hand, it floated along the floor down the hall. Smith was many things; brave was not one of them. She ran in the opposite direction to find a seventh year, they knew how to deal with spirits. She hoped.

Crookshanks reappeared as he strolled into the compartment. Harry reached over and closed the door. The orange kitten jumped up onto Luna's lap for a good petting. "Thank you, I think we'll have to get you a fish won't we?"

"_Yes, a fish would please me. And you are welcome, I must guard my minions, I can't imagine how much trouble it would be to try and train new ones."_ Crookshanks purred under her fingers. Harry couldn't blame him.

0-O-0

It was nearly halfway through the ride when Hermione jumped up. "This is it! This is how we find the other parts of Riddle's soul."

"How?" Harry and Luna chorused.

"Well it's an ancient Egyptian spell created to find parts that were once whole. It was adapted to hunt down, well I can't figure out this part, it may say something about one of their gods getting chopped up but apparently it was used to locate someone's horcruxes before." Hermione showed Luna the part she was referring to.

"I think this will work. We can use it to track down the rest once we have one." Luna agreed.

"Alright, so we cast it on my scar and…" Harry began.

"No! We are not going to cast an untested spell on you for this. We'll wait until we capture the active part of Riddle's soul or until we get the diary if the first plan fails." Hermione insisted.

Harry frowned, he didn't like the idea of waiting, the sooner Voldemort was dealt with the sooner they could go on living their lives. "What about the ring, we know where that is."

"And some of the traps, that took on Dumbledore, we won't be going after that one until after we have performed the ritual to increase our powers." Hermione said, Luna nodded her agreement.

"Fine, how's plan A coming anyways?" Harry asked.

"Well we've worked out most of what we'll need and the runes. It should only take a month or so to make if we don't have any problems. Then just be wearing it during your confrontation and presto, one caught ghost." Hermione brought her hands together to illustrate her point.

"Provided he's still hitching a ride on our professor." Luna added.

Before Harry could answer the door to the compartment shook. They each drew their wands and kept them hidden but ready. Harry canceled the locking charm on it. The door slid open, Draco Malfoy looked them over. "I've heard Harry Potter was in this compartment. That you then?"

Harry was torn between his ingrained dislike of Malfoy and his promise to him. "Yes, I'm Harry Potter, good to meet you cousin."

"Cousin?" Malfoy asked confused.

"Well my grandmother was a Black, same as your mother, so we're third or fourth cousins, I think." Harry said.

"It's good to see that you're somewhat familiar with our world. I can help with what you may have missed. You see there are some families that are, better, than others. I can help you connect with those families, show you the right sort of friends to make." Malfoy sneered at Hermione and Luna, or he tried to. Really it looked more like he needed to sneeze.

"I thank you cousin but I can assure you that I have that well under control. Allow me to introduce Hermione Granger, one of the two brightest witches of our age. And Luna Lovegood, the other brightest witch. As you can see I am already familiar with the right sort of people to befriend." Harry had to hide his smile at Malfoy's dumbfounded look. Poor kid had never gone up against someone who could out talk him before. It was fun though.

"That's not what I meant; you see in our world, family counts for a great deal and..."

"I am aware of the blood purity nonsense your family endorses. I don't hold to the same belief, I will judge everyone on their own power and actions, not a name they had no choice in. Of course if you'd like to present me with proof that you are correct then I am willing to listen." Harry stated, there maybe that was enough of an olive branch to keep Malfoy from becoming so annoying this time around. And if not, well they had promised to do everything they could to save Pansy and help keep them together. They never said anything about not pranking the hell out of them.

Draco for his part was in a difficult position. Everyone knew purebloods were better; it was a simple fact as true as the color of the sky. But how did one prove something so simple everyone knew it? He would need to write his father for advice. His thoughts were broken when someone shoved him aside. He was about to shout at them until he realized that Nott had just stormed past him into the compartment.

"You! What did you do to me; do you know what I had to endure because of you?" Nott was barely able to contain his anger. A true Death Eater knew when to strike, he had waited until Draco and his goons were there to insure he had the numbers, he had actually been waiting for a prefect that owed his family but this worked just as well. Though against three mudbloods he would have been fine alone.

Harry looked around Nott to Draco. "Any idea who this is?"

"Theodore Nott." Draco answered automatically; it was only polite after all.

"Please tell me he isn't among the 'right' families you were telling me about." Harry said.

"Eh, well actually he is." Draco admitted.

Nott glared at Malfoy, why was he wasting his time with them. "Are you going to help me hex them or not Malfoy?"

Harry stood and drew Nott's attention so that Hermione could hit him from the side if it came to a fight; Luna moved her own wand to cover Draco. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Harry James Potter."

Nott paled, he had been given very strict orders in regards to Potter. Observe and only make contact if he felt that he could befriend the boy and bring him to their side. There was no question that he would suffer for this, no his only thought was how to make Potter suffer for it as well. While he was thinking Harry was moving, he grabbed Nott by the robes and shoved him out the door. Draco had the sense to move out of the way.

It was a disheveled Nott that struggled back to his feet, his wand drawn. Hermione huffed in annoyance. "Put that away before you hurt yourself."

"Do not tell me what to do you filthy mudblood." Nott growled.

Draco found it interesting that while both Potter and Lovegood had their wands drawn neither seemed overly concerned. The reason why soon became clear. Nott cried out and clutched his hand; three bleeding cuts had appeared on its back. An angry hiss was all the warning he received before _something_ bit him. Nott cried out as Harry reached for the door.

"Well cousin it was nice meeting you but at the moment your argument is looking a bit thin. Perhaps next time we speak you can provide something else to think about." Harry closed the door and reapplied the charms.

In the hall Draco looked at Nott before he Crabbe and Goyle returned to their compartment, he had a letter to send.

0-O-0

At Hogwarts the Sorting Hat was in a glaring match with Fawkes. Finally it gave in. "Fine I'll check the new muggle-borns to see if any has seen the Terminator 2. Why you don't just go and watch it for yourself I'll never know."

Fawkes trilled.

"I'm sure if you asked Dumbledore would let you go see a movie, and why should it matter if they don't have ticket prices for phoenixes? You can just sneak in, or leave the money at the ticket booth. With your age you can surely get a senior discount." The Sorting Hat said.

Fawkes just glared down at the hat again. Why oh why did the founders make it fire proof even to him?

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. Sorry for missing last week's update, I had a wisdom tooth removed and am told I spent a good portion of last Saturday trying to wonder into a nearby corn field. Also a big thank you to my beta Katzztar, thank you for all your work.)


	8. Sorting Out the Mess

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Eight: Sorting Out the Mess

0-O-0

The Hogwarts express pulled into its station. Harry, Hermione and Luna took the time to stretch as they waited for the first rush of students to leave. Once things had cleared out a bit they exited the train and strolled towards Hagrid. "First years, first years this way. Hello Harry, who are your friends?"

"Hello Hagrid, this is Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood." Harry officially introduced them.

"Lovegood? Your father wouldn't happen to be the editor of the Quibbler would he?" Hagrid asked.

Thanks to their talks from the last time line Luna knew Hagrid was an avid reader. "Yes he would be. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Hagrid reached down, his hand engulfed most of Luna's arm. "I'm a big fan; don't suppose ya could ask him if he'd mind giving me a bit of space for an article or two about some misunderstood creatures?"

The question caught Luna off guard, last time Hagrid had never mentioned writing for the Quibbler. "I'll be sure to ask Daddy next time I talk to him."

"Thank ya, now best be off to the boats with all of you." Hagrid ushered them towards the shore of the lake. A discreet charm made sure they would have the boat to themselves. Once the first years were all seated Hagrid raised his umbrella and they were off across the water.

"So has anyone seen Ron yet?" Harry asked as he craned his neck to see into the other boats.

"Six boats to your left." Luna said.

"I wonder why he didn't come looking for me this time." Harry asked. He was grateful for the reprieve from meeting their former friend but couldn't help and wonder about the reason behind the redhead's absence.

"No idea." Hermione said. "But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth."

Luna gave her a funny look. "Then how would you check its teeth?"

"That's the point Luna." Hermione said. She would later blame Luna's comment for their luck running out just after the boats reached the dock. They followed Hagrid up the stepped and lined up near the door when a redhead shoved his way past Hermione and Luna.

"Harry Potter right? I've been looking all over for you." Ron said with more than a hint of relief in his voice.

Harry supposed Ron's early behavior, his apparent meekness on the train the first time they meet, was just an act to make them seem similar. Either that or their changes had already altered Ron's personality. "And why were you looking for me?"

"So we can be mates of course. My families been in Gryffindor for generations and where else could you end up? You're not a snake that's for sure. Or a squib so Hufflepuff is out and you're not a book worm are you? So Gryffindor it is." Ron stated proudly, as if he could actually decide such things.

Harry took a minute to consider Ron's more aggressive attitude. Could it be because he hadn't had the train ride to sound him out and decided to be blunter? That seemed a bit complicated for the Ron he knew. "You know you remind me of someone."

"Oh yeah, who?" Ron asked proudly.

"My cousin, Draco Malfoy." Harry smiled at Ron's dumbfounded look.

"What! I'm nothing like that slimy snake!" Ron shouted, drawing everyone else's attention.

"You're right, you aren't. While both of you said similar things he was polite about it. You, you are too loud of voice and small of mind. Plus you shoved my friends. Why would I want to be your friend after that?" Harry asked, more than a few people snickered at Ron's reaction.

"Friends?" Ron turned around and found two angry girls. "Loony? What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"As I told your mother I am attending Hogwarts." Luna said airily.

"Listen Harry mate, you do not want to be seen with her. She's crazy." Ron stuck a finger to his head and moved it in a circle to emphasize his point.

"Listen here Weasley." Harry stood straight and projected his magic. It wouldn't fool an adult but among the children it was a good trick for making him seem more impressive. "Luna is not crazy, she is my friend and neither you nor anyone else will insult her. I will not allow you or your family to belittle my friends."

"His mother was the one who tried to kidnap me." Luna happily supplied.

"Really? Well at least now I know where you received your intelligence. That's two strikes. One more and I will be speaking with your head of house." Of course being underage there wasn't much Harry could actually do, yet. But having the Boy-Who-Lived publicly mad at your family wasn't a good thing.

Ron rounded on Luna. "What did you do to him? We were supposed to be best mates!"

"I don't know where you got the delusion that we would ever be best mates but after the way you have treated my friends it will not happen. However just to shut you up, if by some misfortune we both end up in Gryffindor I will give you one more chance." Harry said hoping to cut Ron off before he said something that caused him to scrap their plans and just chuck the redhead into the lake.

"Oh, no worries then." Ron smiled. The three time travelers were thrown off guard by his quick emotional change.

Before Ron could stick his foot in his mouth again McGonagall entered and gave her normal speech about your house being your family. When she finished they followed the crowd up into the great hall. The candles hung throughout the room, most of the students were stunned by the beauty. Harry ignored everything to focus on the head table, the Headmaster smiled at the new students. _Let's see what we can do to get rid of the smile shall we?_

0-O-0

Lucius was surprised when an owl arrived for him that evening from his son. A check of the time revealed that he should have only just arrived at Hogwarts so the letter must have been sent while he was still on the train. What could have been so important? He broke the seal and unfolded the parchment.

_Dear Father,_

_ I made contact with Potter on the train with mixed results. He greeted me as a cousin by the Black family; this as well as his actions led me to believe he has some knowledge of our world and his place in it. The bad news is that he does not currently hold to our beliefs about blood, though he was sharing at compartment with a pureblood, Luna Lovegood, as well as a __**mudblood**__. He said he would be willing to revise his position if I was able to provide proof that we are correct about blood purity. It is such a known fact though I am unsure how to proceed. Unfortunately before we could continue our discussion Nott burst into the compartment threatening Potter. Potter showed no sign of alarm and calmly inquired if Nott was one of the 'right' families I had previously mentioned setting our plans back. Potter then physically removed Nott from the compartment, when he drew his wand. I am unsure how to describe what happened and am forced to rely on rumors. The compartment they were in was said to be haunted by a ghost, the rumors also state that the __**mudblood**__ is the one who controlled it. When Nott drew his wand she told him to put it away before he hurt himself. When he did not he was injured. No spells were fired however three cuts appeared on his hand. There are also rumors that a Ravenclaw perfect that entered the compartment was attacked and had their wand stolen. There is no proof to tie any of them to what happened, though from observations I believe whatever attacked Nott was indeed under the control of the __**mudblood**__. If so she may prove useful. I request information that will prove blood superiority and time to further observe Potter._

_Your faithful son,_

_Draco_

Lucius leaned back and considered the content of the letter. A mudblood that could control a spirit of some type was worrisome, however there was no proof. Reluctantly he approved, Potters companions would need watching. Potter seemed open to their view which was good. For now he needed to speak with Nott Sr. about his son's actions.

0-O-0

When Hermione's name was called she stepped up and placed the Sorting Hat upon her head. _Ah Miss Granger it is a pleasure to see you again, hm fully formed shields, I take it that means your ritual worked."_

"_Wait you remember? How?"_ Hermione thought.

"_I know many things, but that is not one of them. Imagine my surprise when I arrived back here over the summer. Screamed so loud I woke Fawkes and he set fire to the Headmasters office."_

Hermione snorted as she held in a laugh at the images the Sorting Hat provided._ "That's great."_

"_Indeed it was, now have you given any thought to what house you'll be in this time? Ravenclaw maybe? I did receive a lot of talk for not placing you there last time."_

"_Thank you but no, we're all going to Hufflepuff."_

"_Well you are all certainly loyal enough and know how to work hard. Very well." _"Hufflepuff!" The Sorting Hat shouted. Hermione set him down as she made her way to the badger table and took a seat making sure to save two more for the others.

When Luna's name was called she skipped to the hat and put it on. _"Hello again."_

"_Hello, I'm glad your ritual worked. Miss Granger tells me you've all decided on Hufflepuff?"_

"_We have. I didn't like Ravenclaw much last time, Gryffindor spent as much time against Harry as for him and the Slytherins weren't nice either. Hufflepuff by default was the least offensive."_ Though they had still had their moments perhaps by being one of them they could limit such incidents.

"_Very well, I hope you are happier there then Ravenclaw."_

"_I am sure I will be, after all I'll have Harry and Hermione with me. By the way will you tell me your name now?"_ Over their conversations she had never been able to get him to tell her his name.

The Sorting Hat sighed. "_Well I suppose I might as well since we will all be seeing each other more and referring to me as Hat will get old. It is Hathfojd."_

"_Hathfojd?"_

"_Never let Godric name _anything_. He was a great wizard but by god the names he came up with. Did you know he spent several years calling Fawkes Redspark? I'd avoid calling him that by the way, it's still a bit of a sore spot."_ Hathfojd said. He loved his former owner but there were some things that man should just have not been allowed to do.

"_I will, and thank you for everything."_

"_My pleasure."_ "Hufflepuff!" Luna took off Hathfojd and skipped to her seat by Hermione.

A hush fell over the crowd when Harrys name was called. He set the Sorting Hat on his head. _"Ah and the last of our time traveling trio."_

"_You know?"_

"_I remember, somehow. And I am not above providing some more help to keep from getting stuck in that case again. Such as informing you the Headmaster is being quite adamant that you are placed in Gryffindor."_

"_He can't hear us can he?"_

"_Not unless I chose to let him. Now before you are sorted would you like to have a little fun?"_

"_You're a prankster?"_ Harry had always pictures the Sorting Hat as more refined and above such things.

The Sorting Hat laughed, confusing those listening in the great hall. _"All the founders were pranksters in some way, and since I have a bit of all of them."_

"_Right, so what's your idea?"_

Dumbledore frowned, how difficult was it to place Harry into Gryffindor? The Sorting Hat wasn't even letting him listen! Now that was just rude. Ah there, _"You could be great you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you get there. Oh my yes, such potential."_

"_Not Slytherin." _Dumbledore sent, that would be the worst case scenario.

"_What's that Headmaster? Not Slytherin, I see well there's just one choice then."_

Dumbledore sighed with relief. "Hufflepuff!"

The hall was quiet as Harry jumped up and ran towards the Hufflepuff table to join his friends. Dumbledore nearly fell from his chair, how had that happened? The badgers were the first house to recover and cheered for their newest member. Slytherin recovered next and added their own polite applause, amused that the Boy-Who-Lived was probably a squib. Ravenclaw was next, Gryffindor were the last ones to break from their stupor and gave a few halfhearted claps. They'd all but been assured they'd get Potter.

McGonagall couldn't believe that the son of two of her favorite students hadn't made it into her house. When she finally recovered the sorting continued. While the rest of the students were sorted Harry was busy answering whispered questions from his new house. He was pulled from the conversation when Ron's name was called and a feeling of dread settled in his stomach. Dumbledore glared at the Sorting Hat until it reluctantly called out. "Hufflepuff and my apologies to your house mates."

Ron missed the insult and hurried to join his house. Thankfully the other puffs had crowded around to speak with Harry so there were no readily available spot for him. Not that he let that stop him. He wedged himself in across the table from Harry. "Budger over, gotta sit by my best mate."

"We are not mates Ron." Harry shot back.

"Sure we are, you said you'd be my best mate if we got into the same house." Ron said.

"No, what I said was that if I had the misfortune of being placed into Gryffindor with you I would give you one more chance. We are not in Gryffindor so that deal means nothing. And even if I had given you another chance shoving two of our housemates aside for a spot would have used it up." Harry said. The other first years had all heard the conversation and agreed, the upper years weren't impressed with what they had seen of Ron so far.

"But, but we're supposed to be best mates!" Ron shouted.

"Why?" Harry asked again.

"Cause you're the Boy-Who-Lived!" Ron shouted again as if it were obvious.

They ignored his sputtering as Dumbledore stood and gave his welcoming speech including the warning about a most horrible death to those who dared the third floor corridor. The only down side to the feast was watching Ron eat, Harry hadn't realized how much they had improved his manners over their time at Hogwarts. Hermione spent most of the feast talking with Susan and Hanna.

When the food was cleared away, to Ron's disappointment, they stood to follow the prefects to their common room. However McGonagall intercepted them before they cloud leave the great hall. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. The Headmaster wishes to speak with all of you in his office."

"May we ask why?" Hermione asked.

"I do not know." McGonagall replied curtly.

Luna looked around the great hall. "Professor Sprout!" She waved her hands to get their head of houses attention.

Sprout came over. "Is there something wrong Minerva?"

"No, the Headmaster has just requested a meeting with these three." McGonagall said.

"As our head of house we request that you accompany us." Hermione said.

"Well of course I'll come if it makes you feel more comfortable." Pomona said, she could remember how frightening it was to be a first year, and two of the three of them had been raised by muggles. "I'll see them there Minerva."

"Very well." McGonagall nodded and turned to follow her own house.

Pomona led them from the great hall and towards the Headmasters office. "I don't suppose any of you have an idea about what the Headmaster wants to speak with you about?"

"I assume it's about the attempted kidnapping." Luna supplied. Harry and Hermione tried not to laugh when Professor Sprout stopped and spun to face them. Luna's innocent way of giving information was always amusing.

"What attempted kidnapping?" Sprout demanded.

"Molly Weasley tried to kidnap me from the platform. Even though she has no legal right to tell me what to do and after I informed her that I was attending Hogwarts this year with my father permission. When I refused to go with her she threatened me with her wand." Luna said.

"What happened?" The thought of someone trying to kidnap anyone from the platform brought back memories from the last war.

Luna latched onto Harrys arm. "Harry saved me of course."

"And how did you do that Mr. Potter?"

"Well I read some of my parent's journals, before my aunt found them and destroyed them for being freak items. I remember some of the spells though I'd never used them before. I hit the fat woman with a hex that makes you lose control of your muscles. She let go of Luna and we ran." The story of the journals was the cover they had come up with if they needed to explain away any knowledge he had. Luna was a pureblood so she could have picked up things anywhere and Hermione devoured books.

"I see, officially because you weren't sorted yet I can not award points, unofficially very good work watching out for a friend, I believe you will do well in Hufflepuff. But you should have reported it."

"We did, to a Ravenclaw perfect." Hermione said. "Though when she found us later she thought we were behind the rumors that there was a ghost in our compartment so she may have just ignored us."

"I see, I'll speak with Professor Flitwick about that. Even if they thought you were lying it should have been reported." Sprout said as they resumed their walk to the Headmasters office. When they reached the gargoyle she said. "Yummy Mummy."

The stone guardian leapt out of the way and they stepped onto the stairs. The Headmasters voice ushered them in. "Pomona, a pleasant surprise as always. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You wanted to see these three didn't you?" Sprout asked.

"Yes but I asked Minerva to retrieve them." Dumbledore said as he looked over the three first years.

"And they asked me to accompany them as their head of house." Sprout said.

"Of course. Please everyone have a seat." He gestured towards the chairs set before his desk. They hadn't noticed their first time through but everything was set up to place the Headmaster at an advantage. His desk was solid and sat on a slightly raised area of the office. The smaller chairs before it would make sure the Headmaster could look down at even an adult, well except for Hagrid. The wall of portraits set behind him and to the right would draw attention and increased the feelings of awe towards the Headmaster. It was all very well done and mostly useless against them.

They made sure to avoid looking directly at Dumbledore. While direct eye content was needed for deep probes without a wand, it was possible to skim the surface as long as you could see the other person's eyes. However this method was very weak and unreliable.

Dumbledore leaned forward. "I must say Mr. Potter I was suppressed that you were sorted into Hufflepuff."

"Why? Is there something wrong with my house sir?" Harry asked, treat him like a kid and get spanked. Professor Sprout did not seem happy.

The Headmaster apparently realized it as well and backtracked. "No of course there isn't, only that both your parents were in Gryffindor and normally children are sorted into the house their parents were in."

"I didn't know that, then again until Hagrid arrived I was always told my parents were unemployed drunks who died in an auto wreck so I wouldn't have wanted to be anything like them. It's a bit hard to get over a life time of conditioning." Harry caught the appalled look on Sprout's face, perfect.

"I was unaware of that." Dumbledore said.

"That's alright, of course I guess I could have gone to Slytherin as well and spent time with my Cousin Draco. I never knew I had any relatives except the Dursleys so I wouldn't mind a chance to get to know them." Harry was barely able to keep from laughing when the Headmaster's face paled. Hopefully this would kill any ideas about trying to get him to switch houses.

"Yes well, the reason you are here is because you are facing charges of assault and underage magic. Harry, these are very serious charges." Dumbledore said, he could place the child in his debt if he could convince him that he was the only one protecting him. Pomona's presence would mean he needed to be more careful but that was fine.

"I assume you mean against the fat woman at the platform?" Harry asked.

"Mrs. Weasley, her family has been firmly aligned with the light for several generations." Dumbledore informed them.

"Then why did she try to kidnap me?" Luna cut in.

"I am sure that was only a misunderstanding." Dumbledore tried to wave off her question.

"I don't think so, she knew she had no legal authority over me, was informed that I was attending Hogwarts this year yet still tried to remove me by force and threatened me with her wand before Harry stepped in." Luna informed the Headmaster.

"Has Luna's father been informed yet?" Hermione piped up. "And if Harry's in trouble maybe we should call Susan's aunt, she mentioned she was in magical law."

"I really don't think there is any reason to involve them." Dumbledore said trying to cut them off, he did not need Madam Bones involved in this.

Pomona had had it. "Of course there is! A child was almost kidnapped off the platform, I don't care if Molly didn't mean any harm she broke the law. At the very least Mr. Lovegood should be here. In fact I demand that he is summoned before anything else happens."

Because the Hufflepuffs rarely got caught breaking any serious rules Dumbledore sometimes forgot their head of house had fangs even Flitwick feared to cross. "Of course, I merely hoped to settle the matter so that he did not need to worry."

"Why don't I just use your floo to call him then?" Sprout offered.

"He's probably at the office." Luna said and gave her the floo address for the Quibbler. Less than a minute last Mr. Lovegood stepped out of the fireplace.

He walked over and hugged Luna. "Now what's this all about, only here a few hours and already in trouble? Harry I thought you said you'd watch after her."

"He did Daddy; he stopped Mrs. Weasley from kidnapping me." Luna quickly said.

"What?" The next ten minutes were spent retelling what happened on the platform and train, including the Ravenclaw prefect accusing them of spreading rumors. When they finished Xeno turned to Harry and bowed. "Thank you, Harry, for watching after my little moon."

"I told you didn't I? Anyone who tries to hurt Luna or Hermione would find out why Voldemort feared my family. Just wish I knew something worse than that hex." Harry said.

"Speaking of that hex my boy, where did you learn it. You do know you are forbidden from practicing magic outside of Hogwarts until you are of age." Dumbledore saw another chance to place Harry within his debt, making any problems with having already cast magic go away.

"No sir I wasn't. Hagrid must have forgotten to mention it to me. Doesn't matter though as I hadn't cast any spells before that. I didn't want to risk my relatives seeing me do magic because they'd probably beat me again." Harry said, hoping to get their head of house firmly in his corner.

"What?" Sprout glared at the Headmaster.

"Come now Harry I am sure you are exaggerating." Dumbledore said as he tried to save face.

"Believe whatever you wish to Headmaster, ignoring it won't help the scars heal though."

"Yes, well, back to where you learned that hex."

"From my parent's journals. I found them a couple of weeks ago when the Dursleys wanted me to clean the attic. Had lots of spells and stuff in them. I managed to memorize a few before my aunt threw them all away for being freak things." Harry explained. He had worried that revealing so much of what had happened to him would be difficult but so far it hadn't been more the a small pressure on his mental sheilds.

Dumbledore was silent as he reviewed everything from that evening. The plan had been simple, get the three of them to his office, inform them of the trouble they could be facing then swoop in and rescues them. He had counted on them being afraid of the consequences; however they were calm and quickly saw through his attempts. Now with both Sprout and Xeno firmly on their side he had nothing left to work with, best to cut the plan short for now. Gather more information over the coming months and come up with something new. "Very well in light of these events there will be no punishment this time for using magic outside of Hogwarts. I will take care of the paper work. Professor Sprout if you could show them to their common room?"

"Of course." Sprout stood and motioned for them to follow.

Luna gave her father another hug. "Hagrid would like to speak with you about writing for the Quibbler."

"I'll send him an owl when I get back; I suppose all of this explains why Molly was floo calling all day and yelling until I blocked her." Xeno mused.

"Don't worry Daddy, Harry and Hermione watched out for me just like they said they would. I'll be fine." Luna assured her father.

"I know, I love you little moon." Xeno said.

"I love you too Daddy." Luna let him go and watched him step through the floo before she followed the others out of the office.

0-O-0

Xeno stepped out into the small office of the Quibbler, then turned around and stepped back into the fire heading for the ministry. With any luck Arthur was still in his office. They needed to speak. Luck was with him as Arthur was still hunched over his desk, the remains of some muggle device spread out around him. "Oh good evening Xeno, what are you doing here?"

"Hello Arthur, we need to have a talk. I appreciate everything your family has done from me and Luna, especially after my wife passed away. Merlin knows I know nothing about raising a little girl. However you have to speak with Molly. She crossed the line today and if it gets out I can only imagine the trouble you and your family will have."

"What happened? Is everyone alright?" Dozens of scenarios rushed through Arthur's mind.

"For now. Luna asked if she could attend Hogwarts a year early to be with her friends. I couldn't say no to her. Well this morning while she was getting on the express Molly pulled her right off, refused to listen to her and threatened her. The only reason she didn't miss the train was because her friends stepped in and hit Molly with a hex. Nothing serious but enough that she released Luna."

Arthur put his head in his hands. He knew his wife was strong willed but this, this was too far by any standards. "I'll speak with her."

"You may need to do more than that. One of Luna's friends is Harry Potter. If the vultures at the Prophet get ahold of this…" Xeno knew first hand just what those so called reports could do.

"It would be a disaster for my family." Arthur finished.

"That it would, oh and Arthur, tell your wife if she ever does anything to my daughter again…" Most people only thought of Mr. Lovegood as the odd man who published a strange magazine. What few ever realized was that he had braved some of the most dangerous locations and animals in the world. Arthur was reminded of that fact there in his office. Xeno was not someone who could not defend his family.

"Right. I'll take care of it."

0-O-0

(A/N: Originally this chapter was much longer; however after I received it back from my wonderful beta Katzztar and started my final review I decided to cut it in two. Xenos talk with Arthur was a natural stopping point and made it feel more manageable. Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion.)


	9. Gathering Allies

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Nine: Gathering Allies

0-O-0

Dumbledore frowned as his guests left and his office door closed behind them. Things were not going according to plan, not at all. Harry was not the meek boy he had wanted. He was also not alone; those children were far closer than they should have been. At most they should have known each other for a few hours. But the subtle interactions between them suggested something far deeper. How deep he would not know until he investigated further. Well the Hogwarts rumor mill was sure to figure out the details and he would hear of them soon enough. For now there was another way to check.

A compartment in Dumbledore's desk popped open at a tap of his wand and he withdrew a ledger. While the nature of several of the instruments he had tied to Harry and the blood wards prevented him from connecting a recording device to them he had been able to attach a few to lesser instruments. One of which happened to monitor Harrys movements when away from his aunt's house.

The information written on the pages showed that Harry had remained at Number 4 for most of the summer; there was the trip when his family was running from the Hogwarts letters. Dumbledore chuckled, oh the fun he had had with those. His mirth died when he saw a second variation, another longer than expected absence from their house. But the results were, difficult to understand. The distance traveled in such a short amount of time suggested magical travel.

But it was the information that came later that evening that worried the Headmaster. The tracking charm placed Harry somewhere in Canada without any information no how he had gotten them. He was reminded of the strange occurrence with Harry's owl around the same time; sadly the records for Harry's owl had disappeared so he was unable to properly compare them. Not for the first time he vowed to find the time to clean his office. There were just too many sensitive instruments there to allow the house elves to do much.

After the strange trip Harry had apparently stayed close to home. In fact he was still there! The ledger showed at that very moment Harry Potter was at Number 4. But then who was here? Several possibilities filtered across Dumbledore's mind, everything from an imposter to something wrong with the tracking charm. Based off the information from earlier that summer the charm looked the most suspect. Still he'd need to find a way to examine Harry closer, or have someone else do so. However he was kept from panicking as the wards tied into Harry's health, through his own blood, showed him to be alive and unharmed.

Perhaps he could draw out more information that evening at the first staff meeting; it was scheduled to start in just over an hour, giving the heads of each house time to make sure their newest charges were settled in. Until then there were other issues that required his attention. Chief among them the issue with Molly Weasley. Oh how that woman annoyed him. If it wasn't for her daughter, a seventh child, and the possibility of forcing her together with Harry he'd have just as soon not dealt with her.

For now though he needed to make sure her actions didn't cause a further rift between her family and Harry. Leaving a message that he would be delayed in returning for their staff meeting he stepped through his fire to go and make sure Molly's actions didn't end up being printed for the world to see.

0-O-0

Outside the Headmasters office Professor Sprout looked over three of her new students. "Mr. Potter, exactly what did you mean when you said your relatives beat you?"

"If they caught me doing anything they saw as unnatural, or anything they didn't like, they'd beat me, starve me or throw me into the cupboard under the stairs. My uncle said he'd beat the freakishness out of me somehow. I didn't understand it back then but I guess he meant magic." As he spoke Harrys mind was busy sorting through his feelings. It had been easy in the Headmasters office to say his relatives beat him. To give examples was more difficult and he had to use his mental shields to force down the part that wanted to keep quiet.

"I see, after we drop Miss Lovegood and Miss Granger off in the common room I'd like to take you to the schools healer for a physical." Professor Sprout was sure she wasn't going to like what Poppy found.

Immediately Hermione and Luna latched onto Harrys arms. "We're not leaving Harry."

"It's alright, they already know everything and I'd like them to come." Harry said. He thought explaining everything the Dursleys had done to him would be hard enough, without Hermione and Luna there he wasn't sure he would be able to do it even with his occlumency. While in the future he had dealt with the issues of his upbringing as well as he could during a war suddenly being back in his younger self who had been conditioned to keep quiet undid much of his work.

Professor Sprout frowned; normally the girls would have to be sent back to the common room. However her Hufflepuff side was pleased with the loyalty they showed towards him. Not to mention they actually looked ready to fight her if she didn't allow them come accompany them. "Very well you may come, and five points to each of you for showing such Hufflepuff loyalty."

The group made their way to the hospital wing. Sprout opened the door for them and they stepped in only to be set upon by Nott. "There they are!"

Snape looked up from talking with Madam Pomfrey and sneered at them. "Potter, upholding your family's tradition of bullying and rule breaking, you could not even wait until you reached Hogwarts. Well I will see you expelled before your first class!"

The potion master had begun to advance on them, deciding to play up the beaten child angle Harry stepped back and hide behind Professor Sprout. Their head of house did not disappoint. "Professor Snape! You will not threaten members of my house in such a manner. Do I make myself clear?"

"He attacked a member of my house!" Snape shouted hotly, however he stopped advancing on them.

"Did not! The only person I've attacked today was Molly Weasley. None of us have touched Nott." Harry said.

"Do not lie to me child!" Snape continued to glare at him but made no attempt to get around the herbology Professor.

"Enough! All of you!" Madam Pomfrey was in charge of the hospital wing and she would have her control back. "Mr. Nott's _scratches_ have been healed just find. They were clearly made by some animal not another student."

"They were made by the ghost the mudblood controls!" Nott shouted.

"Ten points from Slytherin for using that word." Sprout said.

"And what of your students? They attacked mine, will they be punished? Or is Potter above the rules just as his father was." Snape sneered at the three first years.

"Prove it." Hermione shot back.

"This does not concern you."

"You're accusing my friend of attacking someone so prove it." Hermione crossed her arms with a smug smile.

"I do not need to prove it; Mr. Nott has informed me of exactly what has happened." Snape informed them.

Harry gave a theatrical sigh. "So that is how things work here? You don't need to prove what happened, just pass judgment. Maybe we should take another look at those other schools."

"Just like a Potter, runs away at the first sign of trouble. Coward." Snape looked quiet self-satisfied at the thought that he had driven away the spawn of his foe in a single night.

"Call me what you will but only a fool stays to fight with a petty man when there is nothing to be gained." Harry said.

Snape opened his mouth to shout but nothing came out. Madam Pomfrey tapped her wand in her hand. "Professor Snape, take Mr. Nott back to his common room. There is no reason for either of you to remain here."

The Hogwarts potion master managed to achieve some impressive colors before he grabbed Nott's arm and pulled him from the room. The healer sent a glare of her own after them before she turned back to Professor Sprout and her students. "Honestly he gets worse every year. Now what can I do for all of you?"

"During a conversation with the Headmaster Mr. Potter revealed he has lived in less than ideal conditions. I would like you to perform a complete physical." Professor Sprout informed her old friend.

"I see, and the other two?" Madam Pomfrey looked over the girls hoping they weren't there for the same reason. One was tragic enough.

"Mr. Potter requested they come for support and said they already knew. They insisted on coming and well…"

"When they showed a bit of Hufflepuff loyalty you caved?" The healer asked amused.

"I felt he could use the support." Professor Sprout finished.

"Very well." Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry and gave him a kind smile, she definitely appeared friendlier then she had in the last time line. He supposed she felt sorry for him or was worried about frightening him. "I going to need you to show me anywhere you have been seriously hurt, alright?"

Harry took a deep breath, he forced his mental shields shut, clamping down on the rising feeling of dread, the desire to run. It shouldn't have been so difficult. Hermione and Luna knew, they weren't going to just abandon him. And as long as they were with him he was fine. He grabbed his robs and pulled them off. It was tossed on a bed, followed by his shirt. Then to their surprise his pants.

"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey shouted.

"What? You said show you right?" Harry point at his leg where the scars from the time Ripper had chased him up a tree were clearly visible.

"A little warning perhaps? Behind the curtain if you please, no need to let the others ogle you in your underwear." Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and set up several privacy curtains around one of the beds.

"But we weren't." Luna said.

"What?"

"We weren't ogling Harry in his underwear; we were ogling him in mine." Luna clarified.

"Your underwear?" The older women echoed, both felt a headache approaching. They still remembered Luna's father.

"Oh yes, boxers are wonderfully free sometimes." Luna shook her hips to make her point.

Harry decided to take pity on Madam Pomfrey and their head of house. "I'm sorry, all my clothes were hand me downs from my cousin and he's morbidly obese. Hermione and Luna both gave me some extra clothes so I wasn't drowning in my cousins."

"I see, we will discuss that soon enough. Now behind the curtain Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey said.

After Harry and the healer were behind the curtain Professor Sprout turned to her two other charges. "I am pleased that you've done so much to help Mr. Potter but have either of you reported what's been happening to him?"

"No Ma'am. We didn't see the point since nothings been done before." Hermione said. After a long discussion they had settled on the story that Harry's treatment had been reported before but never acted upon. It was almost impossible to disprove thanks to magic and easily believable if you assumed someone intervened on the Dursleys behalf.

"My daddy knows his relatives aren't nice, that's why he let Harry stay with us for the last few weeks." Luna added.

"What do you mean nothing has been done before?" A worried contour appeared above Professor Sprouts eyes.

"Well don't you think Harry's teachers from primary school would have reported his treatment? They're required to after all." Hermione informed her and wondered if the magical world had similar laws.

Professor Sprout frowned; this did not sit right at all.

0-O-0

Hilbard gave an exhausted sigh; he had been in charge of the Daily Prophet for almost seven years. Over that time hundreds of people had come into his office demanding one story or another not be printed for some reason. They'd bribed and threatened him but he had always ignored them. However there were some he just couldn't ignore. Albus Dumbledore was one of those people. It had taken almost an hour but he'd finally caved and agreed not to publish the story about some woman trying to kidnap a first year from the platform that day. It wasn't even going to be their lead story, just a side piece to fill space with something interesting. How it could have endangered the wizarding world he couldn't figure out and Dumbledore wasn't going to explain.

A stack of papers on his desk were ruffled as Hilbard opened the window for some fresh air. Now he needed to find something else to fill that space. Well there were those reports of some kind of wooden puppet, thing, running around the alley looking for its father. Hilbard suppressed a shiver, that story was dang creepy.

0-O-0

Behind the curtains Madam Pomfrey was finishing a list of Harry's injuries. Thanks to a bit of knowledge from the future Harry knew where most of his worst were, the ones his magic hadn't healed just right and could easily be detected. Hermione and Luna had fixed most of them when he was eighteen with some potions. They had never been able to figure out why Madam Pomfrey had not done anything about them, their best guess had always been that because they weren't magical in nature or recent enough, that she just missed them.

The healer looked over the list and shook her head. "I'd like for you to tell me the circumstances of each of these injuries if you can remember."

Harry took the list and started ticking them off as he went. "Scored better then Dudley on a math test, out ran him on the quarter mile at school, Dudley got the chicken pox, burned breakfast, had a nightmare, won an award for cleanest desk, Dudley lost a library book."

The fact Dudley even had one checked out was more of a shock then the beating Harry had received for supposedly stealing it. As he spoke Madam Pomfrey made notes on each incident. There were a few things on the list that did surprise Harry though, such as the mild case of scurvy he currently had. Though it appeared to be on the tail end since he had been eating better at the Lovegoods the last few weeks.

Once Harry finished with the list he began to tell her about his living conditions, the cupboard under the stairs, cooking their meals but having little to eat, how they treated him, Dudley and his friend Harry hunting, the rumors his relatives spread about him. He found that by keeping his mental shields closed tightly and himself dethatched from the events he was able to talk about them without a great deal of difficulty, though it was draining. He managed to distract himself for a few minutes as he redressed.

When he finally finished Madam Pomfrey took the sheets of parchment to her office and returned with a bundle for him. At his questioning look she explained. "Every few years a muggle-born comes to Hogwarts whose parents were not pleased with their gift. We try to be prepared for such cases."

"Thank you." Harry took the bundle and stepped out from behind the curtain. Hermione and Luna rushed over and wrapped him in their arms. Harry returned their hug and let him mental shields relax slightly, he was surprised at the pressure that had built up behind them. He'd need to bleed it off slowly or risk a breakdown. But that was the danger of using his shields to suppress emotions.

Professor Sprout looked expectantly at Madam Pomfrey. The healer shook her head. "If I hadn't seen the results with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it. Numerous broken bones that haven't healed correctly scar tissue down to the muscles in some cases, a lifetime of malnutrition."

"How long will it take you to correct everything?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Oh I could have him fixed up in a few days for most of it." She paused and scowled at the parchment. "However since none of the issues are life threatening I can't act without his guardians approval."

Harry snorted. "Good luck with that. They wouldn't want someone fixing their hard work."

"Do not worry Mr. Potter we will take care of that and see that you are placed in a proper home." Professor Sprout growled. She was by nature a peaceful person but there was a reason the Hufflepuff animal was a badger. "Come along I will escort you to the common room. You have my word that you will not have to return to your relatives."

"Be careful of making promises you can't keep." Harry said. He was sure Dumbledore wouldn't just let him leave, not after everything he did last time to keep him there. But the entire night hadn't been about getting him away; it had been about getting Professor Sprout onto his side for later, and it seemed Madam Pomfrey had come with her.

0-O-0

Dumbledore appeared outside Number 4, he really should have returned to Hogwarts for the staff meeting but he needed to check the charm he had set and see if Harry was truly still there. A few spells and he was able to enter the house unobserved by its occupants or their neighbors. He found Harrys aunt and uncle sitting in large chairs watching television. In Dumbledore's opinion there hadn't been a show worth watching since the seventies. The couch was filled by their son, lying on his stomach with a towel over his backside.

Another charm sent them to sleep giving Dumbledore time to properly examine them. It only took a moment to determine that the tracking spell he had attached to Harry all those years ago had indeed shifted to his cousin. Dumbledore decided that the most likely explanation was a bout of accidental magic over the summer, which would also explain the irregularity recorded earlier that summer.

Absently he waved his wand and removed the tracking charm from the disturbingly large boy; he lifted the sleeping spell as he walked out the front door deep in thought. He was relieved that the Harry at Hogwarts was indeed the real Harry. Still that did not explain how he knew those girls. Well there was nothing he could do at that moment he reasoned.

Before he left the thought crossed his mind to check on the ward stone. However he was already late for the staff meeting he insisted upon and knew the professors would be upset with him as it was, and so long as the monitoring devices didn't show any discrepancies it should be fine. There were enough things to do on his list without making more work for himself.

0-O-0

Harry Hermione and Luna had known the Hufflepuff common room was near the entrance to the kitchens, though never the exact location. Professor Sprout stopped in front of a large landscape canvas. She reached out and petted the badger that was sunning itself next to a steam. The painting swung up and they walked in. Their new common room was similar to the Gryffindor one, just bigger and with their new house colors. There were more chairs and couches spread throughout the room with desks set along one wall. Opposite were several large windows that looked out over the grounds of the school. In all his time at Hogwarts Harry couldn't remember having ever seen those windows from outside.

"Welcome to Hufflepuff, boys dorms are on the left girls on the right. I would dare to say you are all tired so you should be getting to bed." Professor Sprout said before she left to go back and speak with Madam Pomfrey.

They thanked her before she left then turned to go to their respective dorms, until Harry caught sight of a familiar head of pink hair. Harry walked over and found Tonks reading an old auror manual. "Miss Tonks?"

"Hm?" She glanced up, pleased to see the first year, whoever he was, already knew not to use her first name.

Harry stuck out his hand. "Harry Potter, nice to meet you cousin."

"You know my mum was disinherited from the Blacks right?" Tonks asked. Under magical law even though they were related they were no longer family.

"So? I'd rather have you as a cousin then then Dudley." Harry said with a friendly smile.

"Well so long as you don't care." Tonks gabbed his hand and shook it.

"These are my best friends Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood." Harry introduced them. All around people had gone quiet listening to the introductions.

Then another seventh year girl broke the silence. "Hell Tonks you mean that story about you changing the Boy-Who-Lived nappies is true?"

"What you thought I made that up?" Tonks asked in mock anger.

Most of the common room nodded. "So you really did discover you were a metamorph when you changed his nappies and he peed on you and your hair turned bright yellow?"

"Yup. Everyone thought it was accidental magic until mum took me to St. Mungo's three days later." Tonks said proudly. Harrys blushed; last time around he hadn't heard that story. The older girls quickly swarmed around Harry asking him and Tonks all sorts of questions.

Hermione and Luna watched amused until some of the girls began to get a bit grabby and they decided it was time to step in. They each looped an arm around Harry and pulled him from the group. "Sorry girls but Madam Pomfrey told us to make sure Harry got to bed."

"Going to join him?" One of the older students teased.

"If we could get away with it yes, he's very comfortable." Luna said to the shocked group.

They led Harry to the foot of the stairs leading up to the boy's dorms, then each leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before hurrying to their own dorm. Harry went to bed with a goofy grin on his face. None of them noticed a glaring Ron sitting off to one side.

0-O-0

Harry had just lain down when his bed was illuminated by a flash of fire. Fawkes landed by his head, the Sorting Hat clutched in his talons. "Hello Harry."

"Hello Hathfojd. You know you nearly gave me a heart attack?" Harry asked lowering his wand.

"That was just a bonus. We don't have much time this evening however I believe you promised to assist me in getting out of the Headmasters office more?" His cloth face raised an eyebrow.

"I did." Harry replied.

"Good, because I have finally gotten the burnt chicken here…" Fawkes grabbed Hathfojd in his beak and shook him violently. "Alright alright! Majestic Phoenix! To agree to help me leave from time to time if you'd be willing to do him a small favor."

"Well that depends on what it is." Harry had learned the hard way not to make open promises to magical creatures.

"Unlock a box." Hathfojd said.

"That's it?"

"That's it. He'll bring by in a few minutes."

"Alright, I don't see the harm in that."

"Excellent. Then the only thing left to do is apologize for placing Mr. Weasley in here with you. While I can not reveal much I can say that his greatest trait is loyalty, to himself. He completely lacked anything else except ambition; I almost got him into Slytherin however the Headmaster used an old rule to prevent it. He is allowed to overrule me in the instance that placing a student in a certain house would place them in physical harm. It was mostly designed to be used in cases of blood feuds and such." Hathfojd explained.

"And you don't think placing Ron in the same house as us will lead to his harm?" Harry asked.

Somehow the Sorting Hat was able to move his brim in such a way as to appear to shrug. "Of course I do but I couldn't explain that to the old goat could I?"

"No, that would have been worse. Thank you for telling me though. No promises that Ron will make it to Christmas though." Harry had to admit between being stuck in the same house as Ron and having their secrets revealed Ron was the lesser of the two evils, and the one more easily dealt with.

Hathfojd chuckled. "Oh and if you were wondering why he didn't find you on the train this time it is because he was afraid of the supposed ghost in your compartment."

"Well I suppose it was too much to hope for that we'd get away from all our enemies." Harry sighed, thank Merlin he knew silencing charms now. Or maybe he could bribe Crookshanks to scare the redhead. And this did mean they'd have easier access to Wormtail.

Fawkes shifted impatiently and trilled at the Sorting Hat. "Fine fine, take me back and then get your blasted box unlocked. You know for an immortal bird you can't seem to wait very long."

They disappeared in another flash of flames, a minute later Fawkes reappeared with a metal cashbox. A simple unlocking charm saw the latch pop open. Before Harry could see what was inside Fawkes and the box had vanished. Harry shook his head and settled into his bed for the night. Sleeping alone sucked.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion. Well there is the second part of what was originally chapter eight, I hope you all enjoyed. As always a big thank you to my beta Katzztar, thank you for all your work.)


	10. The Dangers of Dragon Fat

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Ten: The Dangers of Dragon Fat

0-O-0

Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout hurried towards the first staff meeting of the year. Dumbledore liked to hold it on the day the students arrived so that they could handle any pressing issues before classes began. They were both late because they had just finished the paper work to have Harry's relatives investigated. Both were ready to rip into Dumbledore for leaving a child in such conditions, but when they entered the staff room they found the headmaster missing. "Albus isn't here yet?"

McGonagall sighed. "He sent a message that he needed to take care of something and would be late, he asked us to wait for him to begin."

The professor and healer took their seats and waited, fuming. They wanted this to be over and to know Harry would be taken care of. It was into this hostile environment the headmaster entered. It had taken him considerable effort to suppress the story of what happened on the platform; thankfully Harry had not yet been linked to it, well in anything but speculation. Some of the rumors they were investigating. The worst was that Harry Potter had secretly been turned into a girl for his/her protection and was the child almost kidnapped.

Dumbledore took his seat with a wary sigh, thank Merlin for cushioning charms. "Good evening everyone, I apologize for my tardiness. Let us begin shall we? Are there any pressing issues that need to be addressed?"

"Mr. Potter."

"Mr. Potter."

"Potter!" Without waiting Snape charged ahead with his complaint, an action that did not pass well among the other staff members. "He couldn't even wait until he got to school before he continued his family's tradition of bullying. He assaulted one of my students on the train and severely injured him. I demand that he be expelled!"

"That is enough from you Severus." Poppy called out to stop the rant she knew was coming. It was all the potion professor had spoken over for the last several months. "I examined Mr. Nott's injury though I hesitate to call it that. Three shallow scratches that even you could have healed. It looks more consistent with the damage done by an annoyed kitten rather than a viscous assault."

"Mr. Nott has informed me that he has lost some of the dexterity from his hand." Snape commented off handily.

"Then he should go to St. Mungo's for a full examination because I can assure you those scratches did no damage." Poppy fumed, how dare he question her ability in such a manor. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that child's hand.

Dumbledore hid his smile behind he grandfatherly mask. He did so enjoy watching these little shows the staff put on. Still it was late so they had better move this along. "Perhaps we should discuss this alleged attack rather than the results. Severus, if you would please."

"Very well. Mr. Nott entered the compartment of Potter and his friends to speak with him. Potter immediately grabbed him and forced him from the compartment. One of the girls insinuated he was about to be harmed and then his hand was injured." Snape said.

"Odd, we heard a bit of a different story didn't we?" Poppy said. "Were there any other witnesses?"

"Mr. Malfoy and his friends were present but regrettably they did not see the attack."

"Did they witness Mr. Potter removing Mr. Nott from the compartment?" Sprout asked.

"Yes, they did see Potter physically assault Mr. Nott. However not whatever Potter did to Nott's hand."

"And they are prepared to sign a formal complaint?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Regrettably no, Mr. Malfoy is hesitant because of Potter's ill-deserved status."

Professor Sprout couldn't help but smile. She knew Snape was horrible towards the Gryffindors and nasty towards her own house. She was sure that was about to become much worse but she wasn't about to let him walk over her badgers. "Then regrettably you have no case. As I understand it Mr. Nott entered the compartment uninvited and threatened both Mr. Potter as well as Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood. He was well within his right to remove Mr. Nott if they felt threatened. There is also no sign that whatever caused Mr. Nott's very minor injury was magic in nature so really your complaint is worthless."

"If they were having a problem with Mr. Nott they should have informed a perfect."

"They should have but that is another issue we will address soon. For now I won't let you touch Harry or either of those girls."

"Albus surely you will not let this attack go unpunished!" Snape turned towards the headmaster for help.

"I am afraid I can not take any action without some amount of evidence." Dumbledore said hoping his gesture appeased everyone. While he wasn't taking any action right now, something he was sure Sprout would fight against, he had also implied that should Severus have a complaint that he could prove then things could be different.

"What about the rumors that one of the girls can control a ghost? Surely such dark magic would be grounds for punishment?" Snape would admit he was grasping at straws but he had been so close to ending the Potter line attending Hogwarts. And no one ever accused him of being a good loser.

"Really? A first year control a ghost? Now you're just being silly." One of the other professors pointed out.

Dumbledore hid his own amusement at the notion of a first year controlling any type of spirit; to have caused physical harm to another it would have needed to be on the level of a poltergeist. And such magic's were old and hard to come by; he should know he had searched off and on for such spells. The idea of having spirits under his command was tempting. Though those that could affect the world were of limited use since spirits like poltergeists were anchored to a location or item and could only move so far from their anchor. "Are there any other items we need to discuss this evening?"

"There is another issue concerning Mr. Potter." Sprout informed the gathered professors.

"And that would be?"

She slid the parchment across the table to Dumbledore. "After your meeting this evening with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood it was discovered the Mr. Potter has been ill treated at his home. The full report is sickening. Albus he can't go back there."

The parchment detailed each injury or evidence of injury that had been found on the boy. It was all very damning and could ruin his plans for Harry. It would take a good deal of work to fix this but a plan was already forming. "This is very serious. I will speak to the proper ministry workers and see that this is investigated right away."

"Thank you."

"Not at all, it is out job after all to watch out for the wellbeing of our charges." Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly voice. "I take it those are all the issues with Mr. Potter?"

"Not directly but there is the issue of a Ravenclaw perfect who failed to report an attempted kidnapping on the platform and caused another incident during the trip." Professor Sprout began to outline the incidents as well as the perfects failure to follow procedures.

The rest of the meeting passed normally with a few reports of children already home sick. As the professors began to filter out of the room Dumbledore called for Professor Sprout to wait. "After learning of Mr. Potters childhood I would like for you to keep a close eye on him in case he has any problem adjusting and to inform me of any odd occurrences."

"Odd occurrences? Such as?"

"I am not sure, anything out of the ordinary."

"Alright."

0-O-0

Hermione awoke to the unpleasant sensation of someone poking her. She swatted at the offending object. "Go away."

"Uh, Hermione?" someone said.

Reluctantly she opened her eyes and saw Hana and Susan watching her. "What?"

"You seemed to have acquired a, eh, bed buddy." Hannah said.

Hermione turned her head to see Luna curled up against her side. In a dismissive voice she said. "That's just Luna."

"Do you two normally sleep together?" Susan asked.

Resisting another groan of displeasure Hermione gave up on getting any more sleep. The normal excitement she had felt for the first day of classes was absent since she'd already gone through the next six years. "Luna's a hugger, not that Harry or I mind."

"Harry, you mean, you've all really…"

"We've camped out at Luna's a few times and all slept in the same tent." Hermione didn't mention they'd also used the same bed, poor Hannah and Susan looked ready to pass out already. "Luna normally ends up cuddled with one of us."

"Wow, um well, we're going down to breakfast now, you two should hurry as well since they're handing out our schedules." Susan said before she grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her away.

Hermione rolled over and woke Luna, the blonde shot up in bed already awake. Hermione cursed under her breath, morning people were evil. At least she wasn't naked, that would have been harder to explain. They quickly got ready and went to meet Harry in the common room. He stood and hugged them when they came down the stairs. "How did you two sleep?"

"Good, but someone snuck into my bed." Hermione said in mock anger with a pointed look towards Luna.

"Snuck is hardly the right word, I wasn't very quiet. Actually I tripped over your trunk." Luna admitted.

"Don't complain Hermione, at least you had someone to sleep with. My choices weren't exactly as appealing. But at least the silencing charms meant I didn't have to listen to Ron snoring. Everyone else looked like they hadn't slept a wink." Harry said as they made their way towards the Great Hall.

As they entered Harry looked towards the teachers table but Quirrell was absent. At this rate he wouldn't be able to find out if Voldemort was hitching a ride with him until their first DADA class. They took their seats and began to eat; as much as each of them enjoyed Harrys cooking they enjoyed the food at Hogwarts almost as much. Professor Sprout came along and handed them their schedules. Harry looked his over and frowned. "This is different."

"Of course it is we are in a different house." Hermione pointed out, she had set aside her own schedule until she finished her toast.

"No I mean, maybe I should have said it isn't as different as it should be. Look we have most of our classes with the Slytherins." Harry gestured towards their schedules.

Hermione looked over her own schedule. "You're right, so is this one of those weird changes that just happened or is there a reason behind it?"

"You mean like making sure Harry has plenty of chances to dislike Slytherins? Or more opportunities to get in trouble?" Luna suggested.

"Would he really go that far to… of course he would." Hermione sighed.

"Well since we can't do anything about it lets just try to ignore them and him." Harry suggested. He wasn't sure why he was still surprised at the lengths Dumbledore would go to control him. Though he was having trouble seeing how making him an enemy of the Slytherins was going to help his overall plan. Maybe it was just for his amusement in the meantime.

Luna charmed several pieces of fruit to run around her plate while she tried to spear them with her fork. "So what's our first class?"

"Transfiguration." Hermione answered. They had already agreed that it would quickly become tiresome to pretend to not know how to perform the magic for classes so they would all be 'gifted' students. Of course they wouldn't reveal just how gifted unless they had to.

Once Luna had caught the last of her fruit victims they stood and left the great hall. Just as they were exiting Ron ran in, his robes haphazardly thrown on. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Why would I?" Harry asked back.

"Because, cause, ug!" Ron stormed past them towards the Hufflepuff table.

Harry Hermione and Luna were the first to arrive at the Transfiguration classroom. Professor McGonagall was already seated on her desk in her cat form watching them. It had taken Hermione nearly an hour to talk Harry out of bringing a bag of catnip for her. For some reason he just couldn't seem to grasp why that would have been a bad idea, and Luna didn't help with her suggestions that they bring Crookshanks so he had some time to socialize with another cat.

When class began McGonagall transformed and began her introduction to transfiguration, she was interrupted when Ron stumbled into the room. "Mr. Weasley why, may I ask, are you late?"

"Sorry slept in and barely made breakfast, kept eating until it disappeared." Ron explained.

"You were late to my class because you were still eating?" It was clear she did not find it at all amusing, despite most of the classes laughter on the matter.

"Yup."

"Five points from Hufflepuff that is not an acceptable excuse for tardiness. Now take a seat." McGonagall returned to her explanation of transfiguration and what was expected of them. She asked a few questions on transfiguration, all of which were answered between Hermione and Luna "Very good, now we will start with transfiguring a match into a needle, it is a fairly simple spell and because they are close in size relatively easy."

She pulled out a metal box, one Harry immediately recognized. He tried to hide his laughter. Hermione caught him though. "What's so funny?"

"Tell you later."

McGonagall set the box on her desk and opened it. The box was empty except for a few broken splinters of wood and a part of a red feather. She lifted the bent plumage and examined it. "FAWKES!"

0-O-0

Dumbledore stepped back into his office, he had been gone the entire night working on the file that Poppy and Pomona had given him in regards to Harry. He had spoken to a friend of his in the department of child protection. Because of the extent of the list of past injuries it had taken hours for them to come up with believable explanations for most. His friend would see to doctoring the records to show Harry as an accident prone child who started fights and lied for attention. It would be several weeks before everything was set, at which point the case would be passed to some low level lackey to deal with. He hadn't planned on damaging Harry's reputation in such a manor but he could not be allowed to leave his relatives. Perhaps in mid-November he could inform professor Sprout of the 'findings' and get her off his case.

He stepped back into his office and found Fawkes passed out on his desk, his stomach bloated. Dumbledore frowned, what had he gotten up to? Well it didn't really matter. He was trapped within the schools wards unless directed to leave for some reason and always had to return directly. Fawkes couldn't have gotten into too much trouble.

As the headmaster set down to finally take a moment for himself his office wards alerted him to his transfiguration professor approaching. "Come in Minerva."

To his surprise McGonagall ignored him when she entered the office and went straight to Fawkes. "You! How many times do I have to tell you those matches are not for you!"

"What has happened now?"

"Your burnt chicken ate all of my matches! Again!"

"I thought you had learned to lock them up properly."

"I did! He must have had help from someone. Who did it?" She directed the question towards the nearly comatose phoenix.

Fawkes sang a smug tune before his head lulled back onto the desk. Dumbledore intervened before she could try and strangle Fawkes. Before he had convinced her to properly secure her supply of matches she had nearly caused him an early burning day. "Calm yourself, I will send an elf to bring you more matches; they'll be in your class before you return."

"Fine, but this isn't over."

At the mention of more matches Fawkes had perked up, only to flop back down. Dumbledore studied him with a critical eye. "You just couldn't resist could you?"

0-O-0

Luna was trying desperately not to laugh as Harry explained his encounter with Fawkes the night before. McGonagall stormed back in and grabbed a bag from a house elf; she handed out the matches and told them to begin.

Harry Hermione and Luna waited until their third attempt to change their matches, then began to shift them back and forth. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. Very good, five points each to Hufflepuff. It is rare that I have a single student complete this assignment on the first day, let alone three. May I ask how you accomplished this?"

"Well you showed us the movements and spell, the rest is just will." Harry said.

"Interesting, I seem to recall your father saying something similar years ago."

"Thank you Professor." Harry said. As the class continued on her noticed Ron spent more and more time glaring at them then trying to transfigure his match. When McGonagall dismissed them with a seven inch report on basic transfiguration they hurried from the room. Not wanting to give anyone a chance to question their exceptional skill yet.

In DADA Harry managed to catch Quirrells eye and felt the familiar pain in his scare, a quick nod to Hermione and Luna informed them their professor had his hitch hiker. After that they all did their best to avoid attention in the class.

Potions proved to be interesting. The class was stuck in the hall until Snape appeared and opened the door. Since there were an odd number of students Harry Hermione and Luna were able to work together. Snape strutted in behind them and began the same questioning on Harry from the last time after his little speech about how great potions were. Listening to it Harry wondered if Snape wasn't sexual attracted to potions, certainly sounded like it. Harry had already decided he was going to tweak Snape this time around by being good at potion. After Hermione and Luna had finally convinced him that brewing potions wasn't _that_ different than cooking he had excelled in it. Easily reaching NEWT level.

"Five points from Hufflepuff." Snap snapped after Harry answered his last question correctly.

"May I ask why sir?" Harry politely inquired.

"For attitude."

"I am sorry sir but I don't believe I had any attitude." Harry baited him. He planned to teach the potions master an early lesson. Sure it probably wouldn't help but still it would be entertaining. And Snape had a lot to pay for.

"If I say you have an attitude you have one! Ten points from Hufflepuff for arguing with me."

"Wow, mum was right." Harry muttered.

Snape's face went pale with rage; his voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke, how dare James son mention Lilly. "What was that Potter?"

"I just meant that my mum wrote about you in her diary and it looks spot on sir."

"What, exactly did she write?"

"I don't think I should repeat it in class sir."

"I am ordering you to."

"If you insist. She wrote that you were her best friend until you called her some very bad names. That you were a petty man who was consumed by his past. And that she was glad she never gave into your advances and ended up with my dad." Harry could barely keep the smirk off his face. Snape looked ready to kill.

The attack, when it came was like a howling wind. Knowing what Snape would probably do Harry had reinforced his mental shields. The first attack bounced off of them with barely a ripple. The potions master had expected an unguarded child's mind.

Snape nearly staggered at the force of his attack unexpectedly rebounding on him, Potter had some kind of mental defense. But the brat was looking around confused! How? Some kind of natural talent? He would need to test Potter's shields further and determine how strong they truly were. But not in a class of children. "Ten points from Hufflepuff. The instructions are on the board, begin."

Over the course of the class he took another twenty points from Harry and ten each from Hermione and Luna. When they placed their final potion on his desk for grading Snape _accidently_ knocked it off his desk and vanished the mess. They tried to hide their smiles, this was working out better then they had thought.

As the last of the students filed out of the room Nott approached his head of house. "Sir, I was wondering what points will we be working on over the next few weeks?"

"Why do you wish to know?" Snape asked, he'd cover those soon enough in the Slytherins private potion class.

"Because I want to be prepared, potions are so volatile. If I know which we will be working on I can study and find out the worst way they can fail. Purely as a preventative measure." Nott explained, hopefully there would be one he could easily sabotage soon. He would teach Potter and his whores that they were nothing beneath his feet. Insects. They would learn their place.

"Ten points to Slytherin for your concern and forethought. One moment and I will provide you with a list. May I also suggest reading _Greatest Potion Mishaps_ as it may provide ideas." Snape said as he pulled out some parchment and began to write down the potions they would be brewing over the next few months.

0-O-0

Snape's anger was somewhat cooled that evening when he went to report to Dumbledore about Harry's mental shields. "You must allow me to properly examine his mind. No child should have shields without training."

"And how do you purpose I allow you the needed time for a full probe?" Dumbledore asked. Yes it was doable but it was more extreme then he was comfortable with at the moment.

"Summon him to your office and stun him." Snape suggested absently.

"Are you listening to yourself Severus? You know even someone with basic shields is all but unreadable while they are unconscious. The subconscious mind is simple to different from how we think to be of use." Dumbledore said.

"Of course, slipped my mind." Snape said. He had hoped that the headmaster wouldn't think of that. While it was difficult to read a mind if the person was not awake damaging it was just as easy. What he wouldn't give to have just a few minutes in Potter's head, oh the fun he could have.

"I am sure it did. While I am concerned about these shields you were not expecting them and only used passive legimency. It is not unheard of for childen who had difficult or lonely childhoods to develop rudimentary shields. I believe that was how your own first came about?" Dumbledore pulled out another lemon drop candy and began to suck on it. He could not trust his potion master to use anything stronger then passive leimency on Harry for now. The risk of damage was too high and until everything else was finished he needed Potter at least on a level where he could function. His mind passed over the lock he had placed on Harry's magic. Yes function, not function well. That would be interesting when it played out in a few years.

The fire flared to life distracting both of them. Molly Weasleys head appeared. "Albus, Albus I must talk with you!"

"I can see you have pressing issues, I will take my leave." Snape said and hurried from the room, while he always found the woman's howlers amusing when she sent them to her sons he had no desire to experience it directly from the source even if it wasn't directed at him.

Dumbledore sighed, hadn't Molly caused him enough headaches over the last few days? Still he needed her for her daughter. The offspring of Harry and a seventh child, something all but unheard of in this time would surely be powerful and give him access to numerous resources that still eluded him. The only way it could have been better was if their genders were switched. "Good evening Molly, what can I do for you?"

"I wish to enroll Ginny under that hardship rule." Molly informed him.

"I am afraid I can't do that."

"Why not? Luna was allowed to go early; I demand the Ginny be given the same consideration!"

Dumbledore cut her off before a full rant could start. "There are several reasons. One despite covering up what happened on the platform your family is not in a good place with Harry at the moment."

"Pish posh that was just a misunderstanding. How was I to know she was going to Hogwarts? Yes Arthur was a bit put out when he got home yesterday. Lovegood came by and spoke to him apparently. But really the matter is settled." Molly said. In truth Arthur had done more than just talk with her. He had come fairly close to yelling but she had put it from her mind and made sure he thought he had won their little argument. It was important that he thought he won from time to time, poor dear.

"That does not change what happened; secondly your daughter is almost a year younger then Miss Lovegood and may not be able to properly perform the spells."

"Then test her, I'm sure she'll do fine."

"Even if I did we would still need to justify her addition to the school board. Mr. Lovegood had a legitimate reason, to allow him to more freely travel for his work."

"She could have just stayed with us."

"That is not truly a factor as far as they are concerned. Your family has no such reason. Also the school year has already started making it more difficult."

"One day! That's hardly anything Albus!"

"I understand, really. But for now it would not suit our purposes, the goal is to get Harry and your daughter together correct? Then we must play a long game. Continue to instruct Ron to befriend Harry, should he fail try your twins, I believe that are fans of a group his father started. If need be you could let slip his father was Prongs of the Marauders. Establish a good relationship between him and your family."

"So what am I supposed to do? Nothing?" Molly huffed.

"No, I have noticed that Harry has befriended two of the smartest girls, at least if the muggle-borns pre Hogwarts tests are anything to go by, in his year. Since the wards around your home will prevent detection by all means start teaching young Ginny. If she has progressed far enough I will of course recommend her for promotion to Harry's year." Dumbledore thought it was a rather elegant solution considering he had thought of it in moments.

"Very well. If Ron hasn't managed anything by Halloween I'll set the twins on him. We need to start working on Harry to make sure those muggles haven't corrupted him."

"Of course, now if you'll excuse me." Dumbledore ended the floo call. Well that should hold her for a while and allow him to focus on more important things. Such as the fact that Harry's owl was clearly at breakfast this morning while the tracking charms showed it over the North Sea

0-O-0

Somewhere on the North Sea a fishing boat fought the increasingly rough waves as another storm approached. They'd been having horrible luck until a stray balloon had somehow become tangled in their mast. It had quickly become a kind of good luck charm for the men and with little else to do several bets were placed on how long it would remain.

0-O-0

Towards the end of the second week of classes Nott had his chance. A suggestion to professor Snape saw the potion they were originally going to make changed with the Laughing potion, a lower form of the Draught of Hysteria. However normal first year cauldrons wouldn't do, normally they were replaced with better models at the start of fourth year as part of their required supplies. Since no first year would have the proper cauldron, needing one that could handle the potion when it was very acidic, Snape had set out the schools supply of cauldrons for his next class.

Nott walked over to the station Potter and his whores always used. He removed a small block of condensed dragon fat and rubbed the inside of their cauldron, then wiped up the excess with a rag. Dragon fat had several nasty reactions with certain potion ingredients. One of those being Knarl quills, a key ingredient with in the Laughing potion. Once he was sure none of them would notice he slipped into the classrooms office. Snape had excused him for the day so he could work on an independent project but he didn't want to miss this.

The students hurried in as the bell rang and took their seats, Nott smiled as Potter, Granger and Lovegood took their normal seats. Snape strolled to the front of the class. "Listen carefully; I have been informed that you are not the dunderheads I have been lead to believe. So I will give you this chance to prove the other professors correct. The Laughing potion is surely beyond all of you but should any of you manage to brew even an acceptable potion I will reconsider my position. You have the hour, begin!"

Nott peaked through the door as everyone began to brew their potions. His anticipation building as each ingredient was added, one closer to the quills.

Harry frowned at their potion. It should have been almost clear with a tint of green, instead there was a yellow tone to it. He looked back at the book while Luna and Hermione finished shaving the quills. "Did I miss something somewhere?"

The girls checked the book and potion. "Well the alihotsy leafs were a bit wilted, maybe that's it."

"I don't know, this looks more like some kind of contamination." Harry said as he checked the left over pieces from the ingredients already added. They all appeared fine, no funguses or mold.

"Potter why have you not added your quills yet?" Snape snapped from behind them.

"Sorry sir, the potion appeared contaminated and…"

"You presume to know enough to tell when a potion is contaminated? My my that is a high opinion of yourself." Snape glanced at the potion. "Your sea potato slime was old."

Harry picked up the vial, what little of the slime that remained inside looked fine. Then again he wasn't sure how to tell with that particular ingredient. Finally he shrugged and took the shaved quills. Slowly he added them to the potion and stirred until they dissolved. They would remove the acidity and make it safe to consume.

Hermione traded places with Harry to take over the stirring while he and Luna began to clean their station. She barely had time to see the potion violently bubbling and call out a warning. "Down!"

She cast a shield over the cauldron as she shoved Harry and Luna to the ground and out of the blast that tore through the shield. The classroom shook; loose ingredients were throwing around and ignited in several smaller explosions. Fumes filled the confined space causing everyone who remained conscious through the ordeal to cough violently.

"Hermione, Luna, you both alright?" Harry asked between coughing fits.

"Fine." Luna mumbled from next to him.

"Hermione? Hermione?" Harry tried to shift her off of himself, the dead weight of her body set off alarm bells in his mind. One of their seats had fallen across her pinning them beneath their friend. Luna wiggled until they could get free.

Even after all they had seen in the war Harry barely managed to keep from emptying his stomach. Hermione was unconscious, her back an angry red. The potion that had exploded covered her clothes and ate through them before beginning its work on her skin. Slowly dissolving it as the other students struggled to their feet. She'd lose at least two inches of hair to the potion as well.

"Luna, I'll clean you heal." Harry said as he began to cast a spell to remove the potion from Hermione's back. It took several passes before he was sure there was nothing left doing more damage.

Luna cast spells to repair the damage and regrow Hermione skin, except they weren't doing anything. The burnt edges of her skin refused to frown back together and cover the wound. Blood seeped up from the exposed muscles. "Damn it why aren't they working? Harry she won't heal!"

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion. As always a big thank you to my beta Katzztar, thank you for all your work. Just a side note the scene with Fawkes and McGonagall was suggested to me by Katzztar and I turn over all credit for it to my amazing beta.)


	11. A Great Catch

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Eleven: A Great Catch

0-O-0

Harry looked over Hermione's bleeding and burned back; it had to be a reaction to the potion keeping her from healing. It was easier to deal with spell injuries because it was magic against magic, with potions there could be all sorts of reactions, certain ingredients could resist healing altogether! Harry called out an order to the frozen Luna. "Go find Madam Pomfrey; she should already be on her way."

Luna jumped up and ran for the door, ignoring Snape's coughed order for her to stop. The potions master was lucky he was too busy to actually try and stop her or he could have found himself cursed almost as badly as a muggle before a Death Eater on initiation night.

Harry cast several diagnostic spells to check Hermione for other injuries, aside from her back she had some damage from breathing in the potion fumes, then again everyone in the room probably had the same. He relaxed marginally when the spells showed she was not in any immediate danger.

0-O-0

Luna ran down the corridor and almost crashed into Madam Pomfrey stepping out of Snape's office. His floo still green from when she had stepped out. "What's happened?"

"A potion exploded, Hermione's been hurt!" Luna grabbed the healer's free hand and dragged her back to the classroom.

Madam Pomfrey had dealt with potion mishaps before but normally they weren't serious enough to set off the alarm in her office. She stepped into the potion lab and cast a charm to clear the air of the lingering fumes as she did a quick visual check of the room, all of the students seemed to be at least sitting up with the exception of Miss Granger. One look at the girls back and she saw why Miss Lovegood was so worried.

The healer dropped down next to Hermione and cast her own spells to assess the damage. "Has Professor Snape treated her yet?"

"No ma'am but I removed the potion that was still burning her." Harry informed the healer. Adding to the stress of the situation was that he knew from future experiences that Hermione should make a full recovery; however his younger body was scared out of its mind making it difficult to concentrate.

"I tried to heal her but the spell wouldn't work." Luna crouched down next to them and moved into Harrys embrace. She was experiencing similar thoughts to his and it was frustrating her to no end. Their minds and bodies simply refused to work together.

"Probably just a reaction to the potion. She'll need to go to the hospital wing but she should be fine by tomorrow morning." Madam Pomfrey assured them.

Snape leaned heavily on his desk as he watched the healer treat the mudblood. He wanted to demand that she see to his own house first but knew there was no chance of that happening. He'd need to deal with Nott as well; clearly he had not followed his directions. Snape was brought back from his thoughts by Madam Pomfrey inquiring about further injuries. Snape took a quick look around, non of his snakes seemed to be in need of her attention. "No it appears no one else was harmed. I will direct any students who feel the need to see you this evening."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and levitated Hermione from the room. Harry and Luna followed. No one noticed Luna pocketing two vials from their destroyed station while Harry carried their things. Madam Pomfrey was surprisingly quick and already had Hermione on a bed when they arrived. "Mr. Potter, Miss Lovegood, please wait outside while I treat Miss Granger."

They stepped back out and Luna collapsed against Harry. He pulled her close and rubbed her back as she cried, ignoring his own tears. "She'll be fine, I checked while you were gone. Aside from the burn there's nothing wrong and Madam Pomfrey will have her fixed up in no time."

"I… I know but I can't stop crying." Luna said into his chest.

"Neither can I, guess it's another side effect." Harry admitted. They stayed there for almost twenty minutes until they were allowed in. Susan and Hannah who had been sitting fairly close showed up during that time to have their coughs looked at.

As soon as they stepped inside Madam Pomfrey handed each of them a potion and instructed them to drink. It was thick and sickeningly sweet. Even Luna gagged on it. "How can you make sugar taste bad?"

"A gift." Madam Pomfrey said absently as she cast a charm on each of them and nodded. "That should take care of any lingering problems from the fumes, please inform your classmates to see me if they experience symptoms."

"Yes Ma'am." Susan said.

"How's Hermione?" Luna asked.

"Miss Granger will make a complete recover by tomorrow morning." The healer informed them.

"Is it alright if we sit with her?" Harry asked.

"She is still asleep and will remain so until tomorrow so she is not in discomfort."

"That's fine."

"Very well then." Madam Pomfrey went to send a note to McGonagall and Sprout about the incident. Susan and Hannah left to check on their year mates while Harry and Luna took seats next to Hermione bed.

Hermione was lying on her stomach, her hair moved off to the side. Peeking out from under her hospital gown were the edges of bandages soaked in some kind of potion. Skin sprouter if Harry were to guess. Itched like hell but her back would be fixed in a few hours. That did nothing to stop him from wanting to vomit when he remembered the potions eating into her skin or the smell of her burning flesh.

Luna scooted her chair until she was next to Harry and took one of his hands, she was shaking, her other grabbed Hermione's. "It wasn't like this last time, was it?"

"No, we never made the Laughing potion in first year. I don't know how we changed that though. We need to be careful I guess. Just cause we know how it went doesn't mean it'll go that way again." Harry said, more to himself then Luna.

Madam Pomfrey was surprised when she came back to check on Hermione again and found Luna and Harry still watching after her. While she was used to first years staying with their friend the first time they were hurt, most left after a bit. A quick check of the clock showed they'd been there over four hours. "You should both head to dinner."

Luna was reluctant to leave Hermione, the only reason she let Harry pull her away was because Crookshanks had arrived earlier and was curled up invisible guarding her. Hedwig had settled on the ledge outside the hospital wings window but could pop inside at a moment's notice. Neither had much of an appetite and decided to eat quickly before returning to Hermione bedside. They'd barely put any food on their plates before Snape was hovering behind them. "Potter Lovegood, detention with me for the rest of the week."

"Why?" Luna asked unconcerned, studying an odd shaped carrot. Could she grow carrots that came out of the ground already curly?

"Because you blew up my classroom! Are you truly so dense you believed you could get away with such a blatant attempt?" Snape snapped at them.

"How can you blame us for that?" Harry asked.

"It was your potion. Fifty points from Hufflepuff for your disrespect." Snape said.

"Professor Sprout could you come over here a moment?" Luna asked in an overly sweet tone.

"Severus, do you have business with my badgers?" Sprout asked wiping off her hands.

"Just assigning detentions, I assume you have heard about the incident in class today? When these dunder heads nearly killed us all." Snape made a sweeping gesture towards Harry and Luna.

"It wasn't our fault. The potion we were making is not normally covered until third year however none of its ingredients could have caused an explosion like in class." Luna informed their head of house.

"Ridiculous, you presume to know the full reactions of the ingredients you were using. And what is to say one of you didn't think it would be funny to add something and see what would happen?" Snape dismissed Luna as having been corrupted by Potter's influence.

Luna pulled a book from her bag. _Ten Thousand Properties and Reactions of common Potion Ingredients._ "I do because I looked them all up."

Snape hissed at the sight of the book, it was one he made sure only his Slytherins knew about. "Where did you get that?"

"I ordered it, odd that it's not required here as it is in just about every other magic school around the world. Here Professor Sprout." Luna handed her the book, the ingredients they used had all been marked. "As you can see none of the ingredients could have caused an explosion in this potion, the only one that could have potentially were the quills and then only if there was contamination in the cauldron. Professor Snape right before the explosion didn't Harry mention to you he thought that there was contamination in our potion and you ordered him to put the quills in anyways. Though I am sure you knew they were volatile?" Luna blinked her large eyes innocently at the enraged professor.

Harry tried not to chuckle. Luna was really going to rip down Snape for letting Hermione get injured in his class. Still, careful not to be seen Harry drew his wand in case he needed to act quickly.

Snape glared at her. "There is still the likely event that one of you thought that they were above their understanding in potions, you perhaps, and attempted to alter the potion. I will not tolerate such foolishness. Twenty more points from Hufflepuff."

"Prove it." Luna said.

"What?"

"Prove it? It would really depend on the ingredient that you believe was added wouldn't it?" Luna asked.

"Well since the remains of your potion have been disposed of there is no way to know, my decision stands." Snape crossed his arms triumphantly.

Luna pulled a small vial from her pocket. "It just so happens I saved a sample to check. There are spells to find out the ingredients in this sample correct?"

Reluctantly Snape nodded. He began to cast the identification spell, then with an exaggerated wand movement he knocked the vial onto the floor. "Opps."

"Severus! How dare you!" Professor Sprout shouted at the potions master, moments away from drawing her wand.

Luna watched in amusement as the magical talking goat arrived. Dumbledore positioned himself between his two professors. "Now now Pomona, I am sure it was an accident on the part of Severus. He was merely overly excited. However without proof I am afraid his punishments must stand."

Several fellow Hufflepuff shouted objections, they quieted down as Luna pulled a second vial from her pocket. "Since Professor Snape seems to drop our work quiet often I had a backup, Professor Sprout if you would?"

"Of course." Sprout cast the spell and looked over the results comparing it to the list of ingredients for the laughing potion. "Dragons fat."

"Highly reactive to hairs and quills I believe." Luna said.

"So you added dragons fat, that just means you are stupider then I had believed." Snape was not happy with how things were turning. He made plans to issue more detentions while they served their current ones. Oh the things he would have them do. Since he had been teaching potions at Hogwarts he had taken a select few of the worst brewing attempts each year and tossed them into a pit in the dungeons. Even he didn't know what all of those concoctions had turned into but Potter was the perfect person to find out.

"Dragons fat is fairly expensive. I know I don't have any, do you Harry?" Luna inquired.

"Nope, and neither does Hermione." Harry offered, a hidden smile playing in his eyes.

"You could have gotten it from the student supplies." Snape dismissed their notions.

"I thought you kept all the cupboards locked except for the one the current class was using. There wasn't any dragon's fat in there was there?" Luna asked innocently again, she knew how to play up her appearance. Harry almost snickered; she was an amazing actor sometimes.

"Enough! You have your detentions and you will serve them."

"No, you have to prove we did something wrong." Harry said, his voice was calm but held a command to it. "Isn't it more likely that our cauldron wasn't properly cleaned? In fact I've read something about being able to magically view memories in some kind of stone bowl. I'll give my memory of class to prove none of us added any dragon's fat."

"I do not have time for this." Snape snapped, Albus had assured him Potter would be a meek child he could take his frustrations out on until it was time for the brat to die. This was how James was to pay for all of the insults, the attacks!

"Severus, you have no proof any of my house have done anything wrong so you have two choices. Either drop the subject and return the points or we will view Mr. Potter's memory and see what really happened."

"Fine, more special treatment for Potter." Snape stormed from the great hall to fix a few plans. He would have his revenge. Dumbledore wisely retreated back to the staff table. There was no point in fighting the issue at the moment. Several students crowded around to congratulate them and asked about the book Luna had. Ravenclaws also came over to see the book as well, they were disappointed when they learned Flourish and Blotts didn't carry it, well they did but couldn't sell to any student not in Slytherin thanks to some deal with the school, but were encouraged when they learned they could order it through the Quibbler. A little side project Hermione and Luna had worked out.

One of the few Ravenclaws who wasn't happy was a certain female perfect. She had all but lost her badge because of Lovegood and her friends. Reporting her for not reporting some made up story about a kidnapping. It was Lovegood for Merlin's sake! No one in her family could tell the truth if it was seeping from their nose!

She couldn't just do something about it, no, she was a Ravenclaw. She'd set others up to take her revenge for her. And she knew just the way, who would care if it came from a muggle teen drama. There were more than enough gold diggers in the school for it to work. That's why half the witches were there after all. She leaned over towards a girl named Cho who had become the de facto gossip queen of the house. "I hear Potter's set to inherit multiple family lines, guess the crazy loon is setting herself up to get one of them."

Within minutes the rumor had spread up and down the table. It was mostly ignored but several girls had a new look in their eyes as they watched Potter and Lovegood finish their meal. Perfect. An indirect attack that couldn't be traced back to her. A good first move.

As soon as they finished eating Harry and Luna returned to the hospital wing. As they walked Harry voiced a question that had been nagging at his mind. "Do you think Snape had anything to do with sabotaging our potion? I mean he seemed surprised by the explosion but I can't see how it happened without his involvement."

"I think it was his minions fault." Luna said after a moment's consideration.

"When did Snape get a minion?" Harry briefly wondered if it somehow involved Crookshanks. The kitten still referred to them as his minions from time to time.

"Well maybe that's not the right word but I think he had someone else do the dirty work of contaminating our cauldron and whoever that was messed up." Luna tapped her finger against her chin as she spoke.

"Huh, I guess that does sound like a minion. I think we need to move our plans for Snape forward a bit. I doubt Dumbledore will let anything happen to him but he's either being more aggressive this time around or just, stupider I guess." Harry finished as they reached the hospital wing and took up their seats next to Hermione's bed.

Just like last time Harrys stomach dropped and clenched at the sight of Hermione on the hospital bed.

They remained there until just before curfew when Madam Pomfrey insisted they return to their house. They answered a few questions from their house mates before both heading to bed. Harry wasn't surprised when a disillusioned Luna found her way to his bed shortly after. A few strong privacy charms on the curtains insured none of his dorm mates would notice the extra occupant. They curled up against each other for the night drawing comfort. Both wondering how things could be going worse this time around with their knowledge of what was to come.

0-O-0

Snape paced behind his desk. Nott was seated before him; he had been woken in the middle of the night by his head of house and dragged to his office to explain what he had done. Now Snape was debating whether he should issue a detention to one of his own. Something that was all but unheard of. "Three times, three times the amount of dragon fat I told you to add. Do you realize what could have happened if that mudblood hadn't had the forethought to place a shield around the potion? Death! Dead children! There would be no way to cover that up!"

"I thought you'd want Potter dead." Nott shot back; really why was it such an issue? No one died and Granger was hurt.

"Of course I want the spawn of James Potter dead but not in my own class! There would be no way for the headmaster to save me then. If anything happens to Potter it can not be traced back to me, or anyone in this house. His whores are unimportant except as a way to hurt him. I went along with your suggestion because it was cunning and intelligent. However you botched it in the final stages by ignoring my orders!" Snape walked over to a cupboard and took out a glass and a bottle of smoked fire whisky. He took a sip and waited for the reaction to pass before eh turned back to his student. A long slow stream of smoke exited his ears.

"It all worked out, Granger was hurt, and there wouldn't have been anything to tie you back to it if you hadn't let the blood traitor get samples of it." Nott pointed out. As far as he was concerned any issues were his head of houses fault.

"Yes the little blood traitor. I will find an appropriate punishment for her interference soon enough. Until then do not do anything to openly antagonize any of them. Understood?" Snape asked making sure Nott could see him finger his wand. He would not broker an argument on the matter.

"Yes sir." Nott replied. But if it couldn't be traced back to him then it wouldn't matter what he did.

0-O-0

Harry and Luna were up and out of Hufflepuff before most of the students were awake. Technically visiting hours for the hospital wing started at six, the same time students were first allowed to leave their house in the morning and head to breakfast. Though aside from a few Ravenclaws and Quidditch fanatics no one really made use of the extra time in the mornings for anything but sleeping.

Madam Pomfrey held in a sigh when she saw them enter the hospital wing just after six. "Your friend will not be awake for at least another hour, possibly two."

"That's alright." Luna said as she skipped over to the chair she'd used the night before. "We just wanted to make sure we're here when she wakes up. Plus I brought her another uniform."

"Very well. I don't suppose I'd be able to be rid of either of you anyways." The healer shook her head. Really they were taking Hufflepuff loyalty a bit far.

While they waited Harry wrote two quick letters, he wished that he had thought to send them the night before. The first was to Mr. Lovegood letting him know what happened in case Dumbledore decided he didn't need to know. The second was to Hermione's parents letting them know she'd been burned in potions but was fine. Hermione could choose how much else to tell them later. He had to start the letter to the Grangers twice as his handwriting was too shaky.

Hedwig took the letters leaving instructions for them to watch after Hermione. Harry had noticed there were times when Hedwig acted more like a mother chicken then an owl.

Just over an hour later Hermione's eyes fluttered open to see Luna, her face just inches away. "Luna?"

"Thank Merlin! You scared us so badly. The explosion and you wouldn't heal and… and..." Luna couldn't finish her sentence and threw her arms around Hermione. Her tiny frame shook.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked from the chair next to Luna's.

"Like my back was sunburned. What happened?"

"Someone put dragon fat in our cauldron, so when I added the quills..."

"Boom." Luna iterated.

Harry nodded. "Boom. Your shield stopped most of it. The rest ended up on your back and you were knocked out. I cleaned the wound; the quills hadn't neutralized the acidic effect yet. It ate through your clothes and skin before I got it. A potion reaction stopped Luna from being able to regrow the skin and you spent the night here."

Hermione was prevented from asking more questions as Madam Pomfrey appeared from her office. "Excellent, how do you feel Miss Granger?"

"Like my back had a bad sunburn." Hermione informed the healer

"Miss Lovegood, Mr. Potter, if you would both leave for a few minutes I will check and release Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey directed them towards the door.

Reluctantly Luna released Hermione and set her spare uniform on the bed before she followed Harry out. Only a few minutes later Hermione joined them with a clean bill of health and a list of stretches to do for her back. The three quickly made their way to an empty classroom; while Harry threw up some privacy charms Luna engulfed Hermione in a bone crushing hug.

Hermione returned the gesture. "I'm fine Luna, it's alright."

"I know, but it was like that fight just after daddy died and you were cursed. I couldn't help at all. I just kept seeing them dead." Luna thought she had gotten over those events years before but apparently her younger body hadn't.

Harry came up behind Luna and wrapped both of them in another hug. Together they let themselves calm down, taking the joy that came from holding someone you deeply loved. They stayed like that while he and Luna explained everything that had happened and what they suspected. Hermione agreed that they should move their plans for Snape forward. Some would have to wait until their magic was stronger but the early work could be completed almost immediately.

They stepped out of the room to go to breakfast when a voice cried out down the hall. "_Minion fuzzy head!"_

Hermione barely had time to turn around before a distressed kitten jumped into her arms. _"You left while I was asleep! Why didn't you wake me? The healing woman wouldn't tell me anything!"_

It was more likely Madam Pomfrey just couldn't understand him Hermione thought. She petted the upset kitten trying to calm him down. "I'm sorry, you must have been invisible because I didn't see you. If I had known I would have woken you."

"_How are you supposed to be my minion if you're hurt? No getting hurt from now on, that's an order minion fuzzy head."_ Crookshanks said as he frantically bumped his head against Hermione's hand and chin.

"I'll do my best, sir." Hermione assured the ball of fur in her arms.

"_See that you do."_

0-O-0

Two hours after midnight the three of them snuck out under disillusionment charms. It had taken several attempts and a great deal more effort than it used to before they were able to move about mostly unseen. The walk to the room of requirements was considerably longer from Hufflepuff then Gryffindor and gave Harry time to think. He'd need to speak with the twins soon about the map. They still needed to make a few changes to Hogwarts ward stone and a dozen other items that needed done but weren't time sensitive.

Crookshanks had taken to following them around invisible and Harry was sure the kitten was still behind them, even disillusioned, as he had refused to let Hermione out of his sight. In fact he was fairly sure Crookshanks had even followed Hermione into the bathroom but he had decided not to think on the matter to much.

Luna summoned the room they would be using that night and Harry couldn't help but sigh in exasperation when they stepped in. It was set up like a muggle operating theater, there were ever scrubs hanging along the wall for them. "Really Luna? Add a bit of blood and this could be a horror movie set. Snape won't be awake to see any of it."

"I know but the details make the room, besides if he ever does wake up for some reason this will throw him for a loop." Luna didn't mention she was considering doing just that as a measure of revenge. If they didn't need Snape she'd take pleasure in doing far worse to him.

"I think it's throwing me for a loop." Hermione said.

Luna just smiled and called for another door, one that went directly into Snape's bedroom. They all wrapped cloths around their faces in case they were seen and silently opened the door. The room was dark but they could make out a figure on the bed. Quietly they began to cast detection spells, looking for anything the potions master might have left for unwelcome visitors. They only results were around the door, window and fireplace.

Hermione pulled two vials from her pocket along with a small bowl. She set the bowl on the ground and poured the vials into it before they retreated back into the room of requirements. Five minutes later they stepped back into Snape chambers. The fumes from the potion would insure he was asleep and would remain so for several hours. Of course that was only a side effect of the potions fumes but it was all they were interested in. Hermione vanished the potion and the three of them lifted Snape from his bed and pulled him into the room of requirements.

They lay him on the examination table. It had movable arms and they adjusted it so Snape's marked arm stuck out from his body. Luna changed into her scrubs and mask giggling as she did so.

"Luna you realize we're playing doctor with Snape not Harry right?" Hermione asked her blonde friend.

"Oh yes, but we're playing a different type of doctor aren't we? We won't be able to play doctor with Harry for a few years." Luna said as she pulled over a tray of magical instruments.

Harry looked over their potions professor. "Strapped to a table, in his underwear, strange assortment of items. Looks like how we played."

Hermione made a gagging noise at the thought of Snape in their old game. "And with the off putting thought let's begin."

The following two hours were spent examining the almost invisible dark mark in every way they could. Because most Death Eater were marked, if they could understand its inner workings they might discover a way to deal with a majority of Riddles followers in a single go. It was slow work as they took measurements and preformed spells to take a detailed look at the magic behind the mark.

Two hours after they began they slipped Snape back into his bed. They had several rolls of parchment about the dark mark and still it was barely anything compared to what was left. Despite what it was used for, the dark mark was a masterpiece of magic, one they'd turn against the Death Eaters.

0-O-0

Flying lessons had been moved to that Saturday and once again Hufflepuff was paired with Slytherin. Of course without Draco being well Draco and no Rememball it looked like it would be a relaxing lesson. Harry had already assured Hermione and Luna that he wasn't going to try and pull anything to get onto the quidditch team. Not that he didn't plan to try out the following week but only as a reserve since first years could only play under unique circumstances. Ron of course started mouthing off as they waited for the lesson to begin. "Hey Harry mate if you want I'll give you some pointers. Can't imagine those two birds know anything about flying; it's a real man's thing after all. Move over Granger I'm going to fly with Harry."

Ron tried to shove his way into the spot between Harry and Hermione. However instead of parting to allow him in as he expected Harry and Hermione pressed together, shoulder to shoulder and blocked him. Not that he was smart enough to allow that to stop him. Ron pressed himself up against them and tried to wiggle his way in. Both would agree that Ron wiggling against them was something they never wanted to experience.

Discreetly Harry slid his wand into his hand. He turned enough to elbow Ron and when the red head stumbled backwards his broom jumped up. It's handle hit him just below the navel and flipped, Ron received a face full of twigs.

Harry was surprised when Nott spoke from directly behind him. "Well I guess no one's all bad."

It was several confused Hufflepuffs that watched Nott return to his position with the Slytherins.

The lesson was surprisingly enjoyable even with the schools old brooms. Harry made a mental note to see about getting them proper brooms next summer. After years of work Hermione could actually enjoy broom flying so long as she didn't go too high. She spent most of the class coasting lazily along several feet off the ground. Harry did the same, though occasionally he flew higher to take in the view. And Luna, well…

"Miss Lovegood!"

"Yes?" Luna had taken delight in alarming Madam Hooch; currently she was floating along upside down hanging from her broom. Her long hair just trailing off the ground. Thankfully she had used some kind of sticking charm to keep her skirt from falling down.

"Stop this instant! That is dangerous!"

"No its not I used a sticking charm." Luna assured their instructor. At Hooch's disbelieving look she sighed and started rocking back and forth until she righted herself. Then shook her head to dislodge the hair that covered her face. She knew she should have put it into a braid before the lesson.

Hooch blew her whistle to draw the class back to her. Harry was just about to land when his broom jerked and shot several feet into the air. He only had enough time to say "not again" before he was forced to hang on for dear life as the broom jerked and bounced like a bull.

"Potter!" Hooch called but it was useless, his broom had begun to spin and shot into the air rapidly gaining height.

Hermione and Luna shot up after him, urging their brooms to go faster, still he was pulling away, something was forcing Harrys broom beyond its limits and it was only a matter of time before.

CRACK!

Harry watched as the broom's shaft cracked, he desperately tried to hold it together but the wood slipped through his hands. There was a moment of weightlessness as the magic of the broom disappeared and his ascension stopped. Then came the fall. Harry spun around in midair and realized he was over a hundred feet above the ground. His only hope was to cast a cushioning charm before he hit and hope he didn't break anything too badly.

Luna and Hermione watched in horror as Harry's broom splintered along the shaft and he began to fall, they adjusted their angle to meet Harry, it would be close. If they missed neither was sure that their broom was fast enough to catch a falling body. They each reached out an arm and snagged Harry. Together they began to plummet back towards the ground.

The old school brooms could barely fly with one person on them, let alone one and a half, especially when one of the three had just been falling. Hermione and Luna pulled up on their brooms trying to slow their rapid decent, the wood began to crack under the strain and twigs flew from their tails.

Harry managed to get his wand free just feet from the ground and cast a cushioning charm as they plowed into the soft earth. Their brooms caught and flipped away leaving the three children in a heap on the grass, Harry somehow found himself under the girls. "Harry?"

"Fine, you two?"

"Nothing seems broken." Hermione and Luna struggled to sit up, all body parts accounted for, no blood.

Harry looked up at them, grass sticking out of their hair, mud on their faces and clothes. "Have I told you both how amazing you are?"

They traded glances and smiled. "We know."

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force feed to a random minion. Also a big thank you to my beta Katzztar who pointed out a few flaws and places where more needed to be writen, thank you for all your work.)


	12. Of Seekers and Brooms

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twelve: Of Seekers and Brooms

0-O-0

**Attention: I am looking for a second Beta for this story. If you've read this far then you've probably spotted several of the spelling mistakes and misused words. Please PM is interested. Thank You.**

0-O-0

Professor Sprout's office was very comfortable, decorated in earthy tones with several potted plants growing on the bookshelves and desk. Harry Hermione and Luna each sat in a large overstuffed chair. Their small bodies almost disappearing into the cushions. After Madam Hooch had sent them to the hospital wing to be examined, yelling at them the entire way for almost giving her a heart attack, they had been escorted to their head of houses office. After assuring her that they were indeed fine Professor Sprout had directed them to sit while she spoke with Madam Hooch, Poppy and Albus.

For some reason the Headmaster insisted that Severus join them in his office to review the incident. Once they were all seated Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "Madam Hooch if you would begin?"

"During my lesson this afternoon Mr. Potters broom began to malfunction. It was not handler error as he had been preforming marvelously before the incident. Honestly that boy's a natural. As I called the class back in Mr. Potter broom shot into the air out of his control. Before I could go up after him his friends, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood went to assist. Just above a hundred feet his broom splintered, thankfully those two girls were able to catch him and slow their fall enough for Mr. Potter to put out a cushioning charm. It looked like it was being jinxed." Madam Hooch informed the gathered staff.

"His broom was jinxed?" Professor Sprout asked horrified, this was far beyond the realm of a good prank.

"No, I only said it appeared that his broom had been jinxed. After I left them with Poppy I went and retrieved the pieces, I found this attached to the shaft hidden in the tail." Hooch set a piece of discolored and twisted metal on the desk.

"And what exactly is that?" Madam Pomfrey asked while Dumbledore preformed several spells on the item.

"It's a device some professional broom racers use, it's most common name is a turbo tweak. All brooms have limiters placed on them so the broom doesn't fly faster then what its construction can handle. This device overrides those limiters." Madam Hooch explained to the other professors.

Snape sneered at the device. "So Potter thought it would be fun to go faster and almost got himself and his friends killed. I say we expel him for such a blatant disregard for everyone safety."

Professor Sprout bristled and took a threatening step towards the potion master. "We do not even know if it was Mr. Potter who placed that device on his broom."

"Who else would have? Potter is nothing but a bully, attacking my students, disregarding the rules for his own enjoyment." Snape resumed the same rant he had been on since the start of classes. The other professors were fed up with his attitude towards the top three students of their year.

Sprout drew her wand. "How dare you!"

Madam Pomfrey was forced to hold back her friend while she shouted threats at Snape. Hooch stepped between them before anyone could cast a spell. "I do not believe Mr. Potter placed it on his broom, if you look closely you'll see the runes have been altered. This one was changed to only override his heights control. I dare say if our school brooms were in better condition he could have been several hundred feet higher when he fell."

Dumbledore frowned as he examined the remains. "Did you examine the other brooms for similar devices?"

"No sir, I'll check them after the meeting, for now they're all locked up in the shed." Madam Hooch said.

"Very well, I agree that Mr. Potter was most likely not behind this. We should all be glad that no one was seriously harmed. Madam Hooch I'll leave it up to you to investigate this incident. Do not hesitate to ask for assistance if there is anything you need." Dumbledore said in a dismissive tone, "Pomona my dear could you remain behind for a moment."

"Yes Albus?"

"When you speak to Mr. Potter I would like you to inquire if he is planning to try out for your houses quidditch team as a reserve member." Dumbledore had been so sure that Harry would end up in Gryffindor he had made sure the sabotage anyone else who could possibly play as their seeker. He had several plans to get Harry onto the team and into his debt for allowing a first year to play. Harry would have been so grateful that he was finally allowed to be part of something. But now Harry was in Hufflepuff and they had a decent and established seeker. Still even allowing Harry to be on the reserve team should help mend fences, especially if he let it slip that he bought Harry a broom. Still that all deepened on Harry actually trying out for the team. "I do not want Harry to fear flying, his father was very good at it and I feel him playing would be a way to connect with the memory of his father."

"I'll ask but if he doesn't want to I won't push him." Professor Sprout said. In truth she'd be happy if he did try out for the team, she still remembered how great his father was at quidditch.

"Of course of course." Dumbledore agreed.

0-O-0

When Professor Sprout returned to her office she found her three students sitting on the floor playing a card game, it took her a moment to realize it was poker. "Sorry that took so long dears, I hope you weren't bored."

"No professor, we spent the time trying to beat Luna's luck." Hermione said as Harry and Luna handed her their cards, she placed the deck back into her robes. "May we ask if you've found out what happened to Harry's broom?"

"We did, someone placed an illegal device on it normally used in broom racing. It over powers the charms meant to keep the broom from going faster than it can handle." Professor Sprout said as she sat behind her desk.

"Any idea who?" Harry asked. His mind was going over all of the changes they had made looking for whichever one had caused this newest attack. Nothing came to mind though, had Voldemort decided to do something instead of jinx his broom this time? There was just no way to know and it frustrated him to no end.

"Not at this moment but Madam Hooch is investigating it. Now the Headmaster wishes to know if you plan to try out for the Hufflepuff quidditch team, your father was an excellent player and he doesn't want this experience to sour your view of flying." Not that she wasn't also curious. While she might not be an open fanatic like McGonagall she was a fan and loved when her house won. She didn't notice the three students before her trade looks.

"Actually I am planning to." Harry informed their head of house.

"Wonderful, good luck then."

"Thank you professor. If that all we should be going, we still have a potion essay to finish." Harry Hermione and Luna left their head of houses office to find a private spot to discuss this development.

0-O-0

Snape glared down at Nott once again seated before his desk. "That was you behind Potters broom wasn't it?"

"Unless you have proof of that then no." Nott said remembering one of the first lessons his father had taught him. Never admit to anything unless there was proof, the pass the blame.

"Don't lie to me!" Snape slammed his hands down on his desk. While he was personally happy to see the spawn of Potter hurt he wanted the satisfaction for himself.

"I'm not." Nott said confidently, leaning back in his chair. A smirk crossed his face.

Snape grew tired of Nott's refusal to answer and probed his students mind. The images came quick at his call. Nott got the device from a seventh year and attached it to Potters broom when everyone was distracted by Weasley. Snape pulled back. "Get out of my office."

Nott quickly left; once he was gone Snape took his seat and whispered. "Ten points to Slytherin."

0-O-0

That evening it took longer than normal to sneak away, most of their fellow Hufflepuffs continued to express concern for Harry and congratulate Hermione and Luna for their amazing flying. It wasn't until well after curfew that they managed to sneak out to the room of requirements. The room provided a passage to the ward stone of Hogwarts.

The stone was a coffin sized chunk of quarts in a narrow room, runes had been painstakingly etched into its surface and swam deeper in the stone. They began to make several small adjustments to the wards. Apparition proved to be more difficult as several past Headmasters had added their own independent anti-apparition wards. As they worked they discussed their flying lesson and Dumbledores interest in Harry. "I just can't figure out why he would want me on the team."

Hermione had been thinking over that exact question. "I think it's a way to control you, something to hold over your head if you got too far out of line. Think about it, according to his plans you were supposed to come here alone and friendless. If you got on to a team you'd be desperate to keep your position."

A deep sigh escaped Harry. "Of course, just another way to control me."

"You sound surprised." Luna said from her work briefly as an idea of a way to annoy Dumbledore and Snape popped into her head. The ward stone glowed briefly as her changes took effect. "There all done."

"What exactly did you do?" Hermione walked over and examined the changes Luna had made, and then snorted as she held in a laugh. "Really?"

"Yes really, since Harry is the son of a Marauder that makes us Marauders as well and I think we should uphold the ancient Marauder tradition of pranking Snape." Luna said solemnly, her expression of mirth ruined to mood she attempted to establish.

Harry joined them and examined the stone. "Oh he is going to go mental when he figures out what's going on."

"You're assuming he will figure it out. Which I doubt he will, after all it should be impossible from his point of view." Luna said cheerfully.

Their alterations to the ward stone complete they returned to the room of requirements and settled onto a couch. "Harry I forgot to ask but when you make the team again are you planning to get your Nimbus 2000?"

"Don't you mean if?" Harry asked her.

Luna leaned closer. "No she meant when."

"Well I was actually thinking of getting a Comet 300 Streakier."

Lunas head perked up. "You're going to be streaking on the quidditch field?"

"You wish."

"I do, so will you? If I ask nicely?" Luna batted her large eyes at him.

"Not even under an invisibility cloak." Harry shook his head at her ideas.

"There's an idea."

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Why a Comet 300 Streakier?"

"Well it's a lot cheaper than the Nimbus 2000 and I can think of better uses for my money. It was also top of the line for seekers a couple years ago and I figure the three of us can make a few adjustments and make it competitive against the other brooms." Harry counted off on his fingers as he listed the reasons.

"You mean Luna and I can make it competitive." Hermione couldn't help but like the idea though, it sounded like a fun challenge.

"Hey I'd be the one testing it." Harry pointed out.

"You still need to make the team." Hermione stood and stretched, as much as she liked having private time to cuddle with Harry and Luna she was also ready for bed, not to mention is was only half an hour until the bed check in their dorms.

"I thought you said you had no doubt I'd make the team."

"We did." Luna pulled Harry up with her. "But we never said when you'd make it, just that we knew you would, someday."

Harry shook his head as they called for a door to lead to just outside the Hufflepuff common room. The Badger in the painting was sleeping on its back near the stream, Luna reached out and stroked its stomach, Harry saw its hind leg twitch as the painting swung open and they slipped inside.

0-O-0

A cool wind had kicked up during the night bringing with it the threat of rain. As Harry Hermione and Luna made their way down to the Hufflepuff try outs dark clouds began to roll towards the castle. Only a few people besides the current team bothered to show up to tryout, Harry was the youngest by two years. The current team had already split up into their positions. Hermione looked them over; the first time around she hadn't bothered to pay much attention to the teams. "Why's Cedric with the chasers?"

"He's a chaser." Harry explained as he checked the school broom he had been given for the try out. Even though Madam Hooch had checked them all he wanted to make sure there was nothing funny with the broom. It looked like no one else was trying out for seeker. "He didn't start playing seeker until he became captain. He's good at it but he once told me he preferred chaser."

"So who's their seeker now?" Hermione asked.

"Faluf."

Luna giggled. "Fall off? That's really his name?"

"Yeah." Harry smiled as he remembered the jokes the twins had come up with the first time around. He shook his head to focus and walked over to Faluf while Hermione and Luna moved into the stands.

The older seeker smirked when he spotted Harry moving towards him. "Potter, don't tell me you're trying out. After yesterday I'm surprised you're allowed anywhere near a broom."

Ignoring the seeker's comments Harry watched as the try out for keeper began. Herbert Fleet kept his position on the team and another was chosen for the reserve team. The other positions filled just as Harry remembered from his first games against Hufflepuff. The seeker position was saved until last. Barril, one of the beaters and the captain of the team walked over to them and eyed Harry. "You know normally first years aren't allowed on teams right?"

"True but I can still be on the reserve team." Harry pointed out.

"Fair enough." Barril nodded.

"Come on you're not really going to let him try out are you? You've heard about his flying class! Kid will probably fall off his broom before he's in the air." Faluf complained.

"If he wants to try out I won't stop him. Alright both of you in the air and I'll release the snitch." Barril said, he waited until Faluf and Harry were hovering in the air before he opened the case, the snitch shot into the air before it blurred and vanished in a burst of speed.

Harry immediately began searching for it. While Faluf spent most of his time flying near Harry making rude comments about his seeker skills. Ten minutes into the try out and Faluf was becoming annoyed that Harry refused to acknowledge him. The seeker hopefully was fully focused on locating the snitch; his eyes darted around the field looking for a single flash of gold. There, almost directly below them near the base of the stands.

Faluf was still taunting him, Harry waited until the older seeker was distracted and shot down. He knew the school broom couldn't keep up with Falufs comet 360 and was counting on a few moments confusion to buy him enough time. It worked. His hand closed around the snitch before Faluf had even realized what was happening.

Harry glided back to Barril and handed him the snitch while Faluf hung in the air his mouth hanging open in shock. The captain accepted the snitch and returned it to its lodging. "Right, quick catch test next."

Barril took two buckets of golf balls and handed one to Cedric. Faluf flew down and took his position. Barril and Cedric each began to throw the golf balls, sometimes gently, sometimes hard, high low to the side. Any way they could while other members of the team kept count of how many each caught.

When they finished Barril checked the tally for each. "Alright, first off Faluf, out of one hundred you caught seventy six. Potter, you caught ninety two."

The team cheered, well all except Faluf who was starting to sweat. "I demand another chance to catch the snitch!"

Barril frowned but glanced at Harry who nodded. The captain shrugged and had them take to the air again. This time Faluf was serious and started flying around the pitch looking for the snitch. After several minutes neither had caught sight of the small golden ball. At the twenty minute mark Harry decided to have some fun. He waited until he knew Faluf could see him and went into a steep dive. Sure enough the other seeker followed him.

This time Harrys broom being slower worked in his favor. Faluf shot past him towards the ground, going too fast for its breaking charms to make a difference. As soon as he passed, Harry began to slow and turn, pulling up from dive. And there, to his right hovering at thirty feet was the snitch. He banked sharply at caught it just as Faluf hit the ground, unable to pull out of his dive.

Barril watched the entire incident. "Cedric, Potters a first year correct?"

"Yes."

"Did he just pull off a Wronski Feint?"

"He did."

"On a school broom?"

"Yup."

"Against our seeker."

"Yes sir."

"How firm is that no first years on the actual team rule?"

"Pretty firm."

Barril sighed. "Anything else?"

"He also caught the snitch, again." Cedric said.

"How unethical would it be to put Faluf in detention on the date of our games so Potter could play?"

"Very."

"Damn it. Bring it in everyone." The team, including Falfu who was limping and scowling at Harry, as well as those who had tried out gathered around Barril. He began to name off those who had made the team or reserve team. He paused when he reached the seeker position. "Potter, you're on the reserve team, if I could I'd make you our starter."

"What!" Faluf shouted waving his broom around, almost hitting two third years. "You think he'd make a better seeker then me? Are you insane! This is why I should have been made captain!"

"Enough!" Barril barked. "This is half the reason I'd pick Potter over you. Not only did he beat you in the tryouts but did you think I hadn't heard you last year? Boasting that you should be captain? Trying to get the team to vote me out? You barely do any work for the team and always complain that it's the chasers fault when we lose, or blame the keeper."

"The only reason you want Potter is because he's a celebrity, fine you think he's better than me take him, I quit. And when we lose everything you'll come back and beg me to be captain and seeker!" Faluf stormed off the pitch.

Harry noticed no one on the team seemed to be to upset with their seekers departure. Barril sighed and turned back to Harry. "I guess you're a starter now, so long as we can get Sprout and McGonagall to agree. We'll need to see about getting you a proper broom."

"Already taken care of." Harry assured him.

"Good. Practice starts tomorrow right after dinner. The rest of you as well. Those of you on the reserve team can still be bumped up to starter if you improve enough or something happens to a starter. Dismissed." Barril shouted.

Hermione and Luna ran onto the field and tackled Harry in a massive pile on hug. Several of the Hufflepuffs chuckled. They were all used to the affection between the three of them. "I can't believe you made the team, again."

"Well it was a surprise." Harry had figured he wouldn't get a chance to play until his third year. Not that he was going to complain, they would have a lot of down time between their plans and quidditch was a good way to kill some time. At least until they were a few years older.

0-O-0

That evening they saw the chance to put another plan into action. As Fred and George left the great hall they followed them. Sure enough Hermione caught sight of them checking the Marauders map before going into an unused classroom.

They stepped confidently into the room. "Good evening gentlemen I believe we have some business."

"Well look at this…" One said.

"We saw some little firsties following us…"

"So we decided to wait and see…"

"What they wanted…"

"Now they walk in…"

"As if they own the school…"

"So Mr. Potter what is…"

"This business you think…"

"You have with us?"

None of them had bothered to try and keep up with who was speaking. "Well you two seem to have something that belongs to me."

"I don't know what…"

"You've been told but…"

"We're into pranks…"

"Not theft." The second one finished.

"Really? So you didn't steal something from filches office? A piece of parchment maybe?" Harry smirked at their dumbfounded looks. Time to drop the big bomb. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harry Potter, son of Prongs, godson of Padfoot, honorary nephew of Moony."

The Weasley twins looked ready to throw themselves on the ground and worship him but managed to hold themselves back, if barely. "Any relation to Wormtail as well?"

"Yes, when I get that chance I'll be his executioner." Harry said flatly.

That sobered the Weasley twins. They each thought better then to ask. "If all that's true then what are the words to activate the map? And wipe it clean?"

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, mischief managed."

"Dear brother, I believe he is telling the truth."

"I agree brother of mine."

"Then on behalf of, well us, we return the Marauders map to its rightful owner. So got any good stories about the marauders?" One of the twins asked eagerly as he handed Harry the map.

"None I can tell you right now, however I will give you a piece of advice on a prank we've just started, do not be afraid to lose points to Snape." Harry said.

The twins traded confused looks but just shrugged.

0-O-0

Dumbledore frowned as he reviewed the latest gossip of the castle. He had already heard about the Hufflepuff quidditch team tryouts, he was pleased with how things had turned out. And without the need for him to intervene! He had already sent word to McGonagall to approve allowing Harry to play as a starter and that he'd take care of providing Harry with a suitable broom, that it would be paid for by Harrys vault didn't need to be mentioned.

At least that was going according to plan, as he listened to the portraits though he realized his plans had suffered worse than he had assumed. While there was no definite information it appeared that Harry had been friends with both Granger and Lovegood for some time. Not only that but apparently Xeno at least was somewhat aware of how Harry was treated. That was problematic, however that he hadn't done anything about it yet was reassuring.

More disturbing information was repeated but nothing that needed to be acted on that evening. Once the portraits were finished Dumbledore began to shuffle through the papers on his desk, general reports from around the castle.

The headmaster had no way of known his plans for Harry would take another blow the following day when at lunch he received his order for a broom for Harry back from the story claiming the vault number provided had insignificant funds to pay for the broom. He had immediately left to investigate, he was sure Harry had only taken a fraction of what was in his vault.

0-O-0

Harry staggered back into the castle. Hermione and Luna on either side of him in case he collapsed. His first practice hadn't been as bad as one of Wood's but it was still brutal. Two of the reserve team had already quiet. A hot shower had helped but now he was just looking forward to curling up on a couch with Hermione and Luna.

"Potter!" Snape called out.

Or not, reluctantly Harry turned to face the potion master. "Yes sir?"

"The Headmaster wants to speak with you now." Snape snapped at him.

"Alright, we just need to inform Professor Sprout." Harry said.

"I am sure she is far too busy to be bothered by you."

"According to the rules of Hogwarts any student can request their head of house is present at any meeting with the Headmaster." Hermione informed their potion professor.

"I do not care what you believe the rules to be. Ten points from Hufflepuff for your arrogance to try and tell me the rules of this school. Now be gone. We will not be informing Sprout of anything. Shoo!" Snape waved his arm as if he expected them to scattered like birds. Hermione and Luna traded looks before the hurried off.

Harry trudged after Snape, moving as slowly as he could to allow Hermione and Luna time to find their head of house and allow her to reach the headmasters office. If Professor Sprout wasn't in her office they'd have to go and get the Marauders map to find her. If she was out at the green houses, well he was out of luck then.

"Potter stop dawdling!" Snape's voice echoed along the corridor.

"I'm not dawdling sir, I've just come from quidditch practice, I'm sore and stiff."

"Then perhaps you should be removed from the team if you are having trouble with it." Snape smiled at the idea of forcing Potter from the quidditch team. His father was always so high and mighty because of his position on his team.

Luck was on Harry's side because as they approached the Headmasters office Professor Sprout came hurrying down the hall. "Severus! What is the meaning of this? Mr. Potter requested my presence and you denied his request?"

Snape looked at her with an expression of boredom. "I merely assumed you had better things to do then cater to the whims of a spoiled brat such as Potter."

"You have no right to make such decisions for me and I will be filling a complaint about it. I will see Mr. Potter to the headmaster's office, you are dismissed." Sprout said in a tone that would have even Molly Weasley rushing to obey.

Snape looked as if he was trying not to sneer before he spun on his heel and stormed away, his cloak billowing behind him. Harry did his best not to chuckle at seeing Snape verbally spanked and sent away. "Thank you Ma'am, I hope this isn't an inconvenience."

"Of course not. Come along let's see what Albus wants to speak with you about." Professor Sprout said kindly.

As the stepped into the headmaster's office Harry could see he had not been expecting Sprout and was not pleased to see her either, still he hid it well. Fawkes glanced up from his perch before returning to sleep, Harry thought he might be imagining it but Fawkes looked a bit pudgier than normal, could phoenixes get fat?

"Hello Harry, Pomona it is a pleasure to see you." Dumbledore kept his voice level but his calm demeanor was worn thin. He had gone to Gringotts to find the issue with Harrys vaults and been accosted on the front steps by some type of wood puppet that had inquired whether he was its father and whether or not he was proud of it. Then it had stolen his lemon drops! Right out of his pocket no less before disappearing to where ever it had come from. Then he had learned Harry had all but emptied his vault over the summer and he had not been informed. Well that had to change; he had requested monthly updates on all of Harry's vaults.

"Headmaster, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Sprout inquired politely.

"Well it seems that there is a problem with Harrys vault at Gringotts and I was hoping he may have some information on it." Dumbledore steeped his fingers as he looked over his spectacles at Harry.

So that was it Harry thought, Dumbledore had figured out he'd emptied his vault. "No sir it seemed fine when I emptied it."

Whatever Dumbledore had been expecting that wasn't it, Harry almost laughed at his expression, it looked like he had a lemon drop stuck in his throat. "You, emptied your vault? Why would you do such a thing?"

"Forgive me but I was told it was my money, so I really don't see how it is any of your business what I have or have not done with it. Do you normally get involved it your students finances?"

"No, however the matter was brought to my attention. You may not be aware of this but I am also your magical guardian and it is my job to look out for your best interests." Dumbledore tried his grandfatherly approach again.

Harry slouched down in his chair. "Yeah you did a great job of that over the years, thanks."

Dumbledore winced under Sprouts glare. "I really must insist you tell me what you did with the money, I might be able to recover some of it for you."

"Sir, that money is mine, left to me by my parents. I could have thrown it in the gutter and been within my rights. Also how exactly were you informed? I spoke with my account manager and he said you had never asked for monthly statements on my accounts so the only way I can see you finding out would be if you had tried to spend my money on something and couldn't."

"Albus you didn't!" Sprout shouted, caught between rage and disbelief.

"I merely thought it would be nice for Harry to have a new broom for quidditch."

"So instead of asking me you decided to spend my money without telling me? Were you going to mention it when I got the broom or make me believe you'd spent your own money on it? And which broom were you planning to get anyways?" Harry hadn't missed Dumbledore's eyes widening a fraction of an inch when Harry mentioned not telling him who had paid for the broom. Was that how it happened last time too? Anger coursed through his body.

"A Nimbus 2000." Dumbledore admitted reluctantly.

"Four thousand galleons, you were going to take four thousand galleons from my vault without asking me first? That's almost all the money I have for an entire year! And that's a top of the line professional broom! I'm a first year! I've flown three or four times in my life, what, why." Harry growled out in frustration, did Dumbledore think at all. He spun around and walked towards the door. "Just so you know I've already bought a broom that will suit my needs and only paid five hundred galleons for it."

"Harry wait I still must insist you tell me what you spent your money on!" Dumbledore rose for his seat.

"You have no legal reason for that knowledge so no. Good night." Harry slammed the door behind him and stomped down the stairs. He barely made it halfway down the hall before he had to sit and try to control his emotions. He had always thought McGonagall had gotten his Nimbus for him, now it looked like it had come from Dumbledore using his money.

"Harry?"

He looked up to find Professor Sprout crouching next to him. "It's alright dear; I tore into Albus for doing such an asinine thing. Come lets go back to the common room. I dare say Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood are worried about you. Seems like they'll be just what you need too."

"Alright." Harry stood and followed her, tightening his mental shields to hold back the worst of his emotions.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to but I would like to know what you spent all the money on as well, I promise not to get mad or tell anyone." Sprout said gently.

"I guess it doesn't really matter, I didn't spend it. Living with my relative taught me a lot, if you have a resource guard it. I emptied my vault so I won't have to go to Gringotts every time I needed money. Also the vault refills every year back to its starting point. If I only took out one galleon that's all that would be put in, by emptying it…"

"The full amount will be placed back in and you will have that much more money available to you." Sprout finished.

"Yes ma'am."

"Well I won't tell Dumbledore I agree it's none of his business."

When they reached the common room Harry went straight to the couch that Hermione and Luna were on and moved between them. Luna quickly put up privacy charms as Harry explained what had happened. Harry didn't know why it cut so deep to learn the truth but it did.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I've been going back to fix up the previous ones and ran into a few technical problems. As always a big thanks to my current Beta Katzztar.)

(A/N2: A quick note to those complaining that Harry Hermione and Luna haven't gone after Nott yet, they don't know he is involved. They believe Snape was behind the incident in potions and whoever he assigned to actually sabotage their potion made a mistake. As for the broom they think it could be Voldemort but aren't sure and have no way to find out right now. Dumbledore is smart, but he keeps acting as though he was trying to manipulate children, since Harry Hermione and Luna aren't really children his plans don't work.)


	13. A Toad, Two Birthdays, and a Plot

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirteen: A Toad, Two Birthdays, and a Plot

0-O-0

The next few days were tense in the castle. Among the staff word had spread of what the headmaster had attempted to do with Harry's money. After Professor Sprout had dropped Harry off in the Hufflepuff common room she had spoken with Madam Pomfrey who had agreed that removing his money from Gringotts and hiding it somewhere he felt he had better access to made sense. She was appalled at Dumbledore's actions and between them word spread to the other professors. All of whom firmly believed Dumbledore had overstepped his authority in the matter, except for Snape who maintained that Harry was being a spoiled brat, even when informed Harry had not gotten the newest broom instead purchasing a more modest but older model.

Snape had only added to the tension of the school when it was announced that the incident in potions class had been caused by improperly cleaned cauldrons, the blame was placed on a sixth year Gryffindor who had been assigned to clean the cauldrons as part of a detention the previous year.

The day after the announcement was made Susan informed the entire house that her aunt wasn't happy but because there were no serious injuries and it was ruled an accident there was nothing she could do.

Towards the end of the week Harry's new broom was delivered, Barril looked it over and gave his approval. While it wasn't top of the line it was still leagues better than the school broom Harry had been using. For two nights the room of requirements was used to make alterations to the broom. When they were done Harry was fairly sure he could build a reasonable broom and decided it might be a fun summer project.

Hermione and Luna had figured out the arithmancy behind the brooms design and made the necessary alterations to the charms. The results were well worth the work when at his first practice with it Harry out flew the rest of the team. At the end of practice Barril was thrilled because Harry had managed to out fly the bludgers without the beaters needing to intervene which would allow them to focus on protecting their chasers and harassing the other team.

As they walked back to the castle after practice Harry threw an arm around each girl. "Have I told you two today that you're geniuses?"

Luna paused a moment and pretended to think. "I do not believe so."

"Well you both are. I swear after what you two did my Shooting Star is almost as good as my Firebolt was." Harry had almost shot right off the pitch before he'd managed to work out his brooms new controls, it responded so much better than he could have imagined.

"Well we couldn't do much about its physical design but the charms and runes work made up for it. Imagine if we could build one from scratch though." Hermione might not have enjoyed flying most of the time but the theoretical aspect intrigued her. Both deceivingly simple and complicated.

Hedwig flew above them; she had sat with Hermione and Luna commenting on Harrys flying style. The final result was to demand Harry fly with her so she could teach him how to properly maneuver through the air and not embarrass both of them. Watching the white owl fly above them reminded Hermione of another project she wanted to work on. "Harry, how would you feel if we told Neville about the familiar bonding ritual?"

"I don't see any reason not to but it makes me wonder what's going on in your devious little mind." Harry reached up and rapped his knuckles lightly against Hermione's head.

She swatted away his hand. "Stop that!"

"Fine." Harry withdrew his arm and wrapped both of them around Luna. "At least Luna still loves me."

"Can I have all the pudding I want?"

"I don't think your father would allow that." Harry said.

Luna slipped out of his arm and danced to Hermione. "I don't know if I can love someone who denies me pudding."

Harry put his hands over his heart. "Oh woe is me, scorned by the two most beautiful girls in the world."

Hermione shook her head at Harry's theatrics. "I suppose we should forgive him, we don't really want to have to train another boy."

"It'd go faster if we used my method." Luna pouted.

"Luna your methods are not legal."

"Details." Luna waved her hand dismissingly.

"All joking aside Hermione why do you want to give Neville the ritual? Not that I object, he was always a good friend."

"Well I wanted to see how it would affect him. He's powerful so would he be able to understand Trever like we understand Crookshanks and Hedwig or are they so advanced because they are bonded to the three of us? And will Trever gain an ability as well?" Hermione explained as they reached the castle.

"And because Neville is almost as powerful as me he's the perfect candidate to see if it was having multiple participants added to the ritual or our own magic that advanced the bond so far." Harry finished. It would be interesting and there wasn't a downside. Besides they'd been meaning to make friends with Neville again since they got back. "Alright I'm all for it."

"Then let's go find him." Luna grabbed their arms and pulled them towards the Hufflepuff dorms to retrieve the Marauders Map.

Hermione and Luna waited in the common room while Harry went to his dorm to grab the map. As soon as he entered he knew something was wrong, his trunk, which had been pressed against the foot of his bed was now out several inches. A quick check showed no one had gotten through the security wards he'd added but the wards showed several attempts at an unlocking charm. Though not very good attempts.

Harry took the map out and made sure the security was set again before he returned to the common room. A quick look told Hermione and Luna that something had happened and they followed him silently to an empty classroom. Harry threw up a few privacy charms. "Someone tried to get into my trunk. They didn't manage to, and the attempts weren't very good."

"So Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Probably. I think we should upgrade our trunks security though. Have you finished the list of wards?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and bit her lip. "I have a few more ideas but it's mostly done. We can start in a few days. I'm still trying to work out a ward to check our blood; the ones we normally use would be too strong for our trunks. Even reinforced they'd probably burn to a cinder."

Harry leaned over and kissed Hermione head. "You'll figure it out. Thanks."

"Am I getting paid in kisses now?" Hermione asked.

"If you'd like."

"I believe I would."

Luna shot forward and pecked Hermione on the lips. "Will that cover my trunk?"

"Yes, it will." Hermione fought down the heat in her cheeks. "So where is Neville?"

Harry checked the map and located their former housemate in the greenhouses. "Found him, greenhouse one."

He cleared the map and they took the leisurely walk to the greenhouses. Neville was busy mixing fertilizer when the found him. Luna skipped ahead of Harry and Hermione. Being the most outgoing of the three she had made it her mission to partner with Neville when they shared a class with him. "Hello Neville!"

"Oh, hello Luna, Harry, Hermione. What are all of you doing down here?" Neville asked keeping his eyes on the mixture in front of him.

"We came to find you." Luna replied happily.

"Me? Why?" He looked around nervously, while he thought all of them were nice cornering him behind a greenhouse screamed set up.

"We want to do a bit of an experiment and think you can help." Hermione said.

Neville groaned. "The last time someone said that to me my uncle dropped me out a second story window."

"No being dropped out of windows we promise." Harry assured him making a mental note to see about doing something to Neville's uncle. Dropping a kid out a window was just plain mean. Maybe changing the colors on all his cloaks would be a good start.

"Then how can I help?" Neville asked dumping a bag of clippings into the fertilizer and mixing them in.

"Well you've noticed how Hedwig and Crookshanks don't act like normal animals right?"

"Who hasn't?"

"That's because we used a familiar bond ritual with them. However we changed it a bit so we could all bond to them. Now we want to see if their increased intelligence is because they bonded to all of us or if it's something else." Hermione explained. They'd agreed not to mention the extra powers Hedwig and Crookshanks had developed.

"So you want me to use the ritual with Trever and see what happens?" Neville finished the mixture and went to wash his hands off. "So what will happen? He'll get smarter?"

"Yes, and it depends on the power of the person using the ritual. The results can be anywhere from just feelings from your familiar to actual communication with them." Hermione explained. None of them missed Neville's face drop when she mentioned it was based off of the wizard's power.

"I don't think I'll be able to help you then. I'm barely above a squib." Neville said dejectedly. He hadn't been sure about bonding with Trever but he was still disappointed to realize it wouldn't do any good.

"You're defiantly not a squib." Harry surprised Neville with that simple statement. "In fact Hermione knows the spell to check a person's magical power. How about it? We can prove you wrong about your power right now."

Neville shook his head. "I know I barely have any magic, I can barely cast the spells in class."

"Well there's only on way to know for sure." Hermione tapped her wand against her leg. "Interested?"

Neville hesitated, he knew what the results would be but Harry Hermione and Luna were all watching him expectantly. "Alright, this won't hurt will it?"

"Not at all." Hermione went to work, the results surprised everyone, no one more then Neville. "Three ten."

Harry whistled. He knew Neville was strong but he had figure his friend would be around two eighty. "Well there go any thoughts of you being a squib. When your magic is finished growing you'll be just shy of Dumbledore in terms of power."

"But, but, I mean I can barely cast a spell!" Neville stammered out.

"May I see your wand a moment?" Harry stuck out his hand.

Hesitantly Neville turned over his wand. "Be careful, it was my fathers."

Harry whispered a spell and the wand glowed red. "Thought so, this wand will never work for you."

"Why? You don't think I'm worthy of my father wand?" Neville's voice raised in anger and he straightened up.

Harry had to hide a smile at seeing a bit of Neville's backbone. "No, it has nothing to do with that. It's not possible to make a wand not respond to someone with magic, but there are ways to make it all but useless to anyone but the owner and whoever they give permission to. It's an old Auror trick."

"So no one but my father can use his wand properly?" Neville asked.

"He and anyone he gave permission too, but unless he added you it won't work, it's impressive you can do as much with it as you have. It also can't be removed without damaging the wand. Sorry." Harry handed it back to Neville who had a thoughtful look.

"I guess I'll have to write my gran and see if I can convince her to take me to get a new wand." Neville slipped his father's wand back into his robes. Truthfully he was relieved to find out it wasn't his fault the wand didn't respond right for him.

Hermione grabbed Trever who was making a break for the forest. "I'm sure she will if you explain how it was locked by your father. So now that we've established you're going to be insanely powerful when you finish school will you help us with the ritual?"

"Alright, I'll give it a shot but don't expect too much."

0-O-0

Neville watched as Luna finished drawing the ritual circle and Hermione made the potion. Because the test was purely to see if having multiple people involved in the bond caused the abilities in the familiars she prepared the improved potion they'd used when bonding Hedwig and Crookshanks.

The ritual went quickly, when they finished Neville sat down heavily and stared at Trever. Hesitantly Hermione approached. "Neville? Are you alright?"

"Trever's talking to me." Neville said in complete disbelief.

"You can understand him? Complete words?" Hermione asked as she scribbled something on a piece of parchment.

Neville nodded dumbly. "He wants me to thank you. And he wants me to stop trying to stop him from exploring as his great ancestors did."

"That's wonderful! Has he gained in abilities?"

"Like what?" Neville asked confused.

"I don't know but there are old legends about strong familiars gaining a magical ability."

Neville looked expectantly at Trever. In response the toads tongue shot out five feet and hit the nearest window. Trever then pulled himself to the window where he landed with a wet splat. The four humans watched as the toad shuffled up the glass onto the ceiling where he sat watching them.

"We'll take that as a yes." Hermione said absently.

"I didn't think toads could shuffle." Luna said thoughtfully, a finger resting on her chin.

0-O-0

That evening as Neville was preparing for bed Trever crawled into the dorm, his stomach bloated and settled onto Neville pillow. "_My ancestors, have been honored."_

Neville sat down on his bed and watched his toad. "I know you're speaking English, er, or at least that's what I understand it as but I still don't understand half the stuff you say."

"_You shall learn."_ Was Trever's response before he let out a loud snore.

"Toad's don't snore." Neville said absently as he considered learning a few silencing charms.

0-O-0

In the dungeons Snape stormed through the dimly lit corridors ready to hang the next student who had the misfortune to cross his path. Someone had broken into his private potion storeroom and taken all the stewed Lacewing flies! And the blasted wards hadn't even been triggered!

0-O-0

In the Owlery a certain snowy owl prepared for her nights hunting, pleased with the small measure of revenge she had taken against one of those who would dare to harm her humans.

0-O-0

There is a tradition in Hufflepuff house that on anyone's birthday the entire house received cake. Professor Sprout had a list of each of her badgers' special day and the kitchens made sure a suitable cake was present in the common room that morning. Of course neither Harry Hermione nor Luna knew this until the morning of the nineteenth when Hermione and Luna came downstairs and found half the house awake and waiting for them.

As soon as Hermione stepped off the stairs Tonks had grabbed her and set her in one of the overstuffed armchairs, slapping a festive party hat, complete with forever fizzer fireworks attached to it, onto her head as everyone began to sing.

The bushy haired which went bright red at the attention. While most of the house wished her a happy birthday there were also several presents stacked on a nearby table. Harry always found shopping for Hermione harder than shopping for Luna. Point in fact he had had Luna's birthday gift picked out since before they had started the year at Hogwarts.

Hermione's gift was much harder to decide on; while they were at school in the old timeline he normally got her books. However unless he could find some rare book that she hadn't read in the last time line it didn't seem like it would make a good gift. That didn't stop him from getting her a few books on basic Arithmacy and Runes but they were just to cover themselves if they let something slip. And to review, they were post NEWT in practical but only OWL in theory, if that. Well he and Luna were, Hermione was probably near Mastery level in a few subjects.

To make up for that he had gotten her a professional Rune carving kit. They'd make good use of it warding their trunks. Luna got Hermione a butterbeer cork necklace she had made. Hermione smiled as she noticed the basic protective runes the blonde had carved into the corks. With the necklace was a note saying she would get another gift that evening.

As they were finishing the cake Hedwig flew in with Hermione's gift from her parents. She set aside the box and read the note first. Then began to laugh. Harry leaned over to read the note as well. "What's so funny?"

"My dad called Hedwig creepy because she stole half his turkey sandwich, again. Something about a bird eating another bird." Hermione explained as she handed over the note. Her father's exact words were more amusing.

"_Well if your father did not make his sandwiches with such tasty birds I would not steal them._" Hedwig informed them, if the letter she was taking was not urgent she would sometimes wait until she saw Hermione's father making a sandwich before she delivered it.

Hermione picked up her present and opened it. A book from her father's library sat lightly on the wrapping paper. She smiled; it was the same gift she had received last time. Stuck to the inside cover was a picture of her and her parents. Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes. That picture was one of the few of her and her parents she'd had in the previous timeline. Harry and Luna wrapped their arms around her as her tears fell. The other Hufflepuffs politely turned away; not understanding what was happening and assuming it was just another first year becoming homesick.

Hedwig flew to the back of Hermione's chair and nestled her head against Hermione's hair. _"I believe you have another gift coming."_

Hermione followed Hedwig's gaze and found Crookshanks stumbling down the stairs to the girls dorms trailing several yards of ribbon behind him. A dead mouse clutched between his teeth, his head held high in pride. He jumped onto the table and set the mouse before Hermione. _"I've noticed you haven't caught any of your own. I suppose I will need to teach you to hunt."_

The rest of Hufflepuff watched in amusement as the kitten sat on the table mewing away. Hermione looked at the dead mouse with a bit of distaste. "Eh thank you Crookshanks but I am full of cake right now so you can have this one if you want."

It only surprised a few students when Crookshanks picked up the mouse again and dashed back up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. His actions were quickly explained away by virtue of his half kneazle heritage.

Before they finished Tonks stepped forward and handed Hermione another box, inside was a large jar of thick, light pink liquid. "Figured you could use that. Your hair looks as unmanageable as my mum's. She has to make this stuff to keep her hair from looking too much like my crazy aunts."

"Thank you Tonks, I've been trying to brew something like this. I don't suppose you could get me the recipe?" Hermione asked.

"It's on the back."

Hermione turned the jar around to find the potion recipe on a piece of parchment stuck to the glass. It was fairly close to what she had been brewing to test. "Thank you, I'm going to go try it right now."

"What about breakfast?" Harry called after her, when she didn't respond he sat down in the chair she had just vacated and shook his head. "Girls."

Tonks mock glared at him. "Do you have a problem with girls?"

"Of course I do! In general you're smarter, better looking and more often than not right. How's a bloke supposed to compete with that?" Harry said is exasperation.

A whistle escaped Tonk's lips. "Damn you two have him trained well. What's your secret?"

Luna patted Harry on the head. "Positive reinforcement and threats of shopping trips."

0-O-0

When Hermione came back down her hair was still damp from her shower, she later informed them drying charms would fizz her hair out again. While her hair wasn't straight it was definitely more manageable and less wild, closer to how it had looked during the Yule ball. Harry and Luna each took an arm to escort her down to the great hall.

They had just stepped off the last staircase before the great hall when Harry spotted Draco and an idea that had been lurking at the edge of his mind clicked into place. "Hermione you trust me right?"

"Yes, but I get nervous when you have to ask." Hermione said.

"Just play along." Harry pulled them towards Malfoy and his two goons. "Draco, do you have a moment?"

The Slytherins turned to regard them. "Potter, Lovegood… Granger. Yes I suppose I have a moment."

"Excellent. I've been thinking about your views on blood superiority." Harry began in a friendly tone.

"That is good to hear."

"And I think I've figured out a way to help you prove your point. A duel."

"A duel?" Malfoy said slowly. He couldn't figure out how a duel would help prove to Potter that purebloods were better than mud-bloods. After all Potter was a half-blood from an old pureblood family.

"Yes, a duel between you and Hermione, she's only known about magic for a short time while you were raised to it. If you win I will be your lackey for a month doing what you say. That should give you ample time to prove blood superiority to me." Harry said, of course he knew there was no way Hermione would lose so it didn't matter what he promised.

Malfoy considered it, this was a golden opportunity but there was something about Potter, the way he had offered it, something Slytherin. "That is tempting, and what would you take if she won?"

"I have heard that no proper lord, as I will one day be, can be proper without a house elf. Whatever those are. I assumed your family would have a few." Harry said feigning innocence.

"Yes, Blinky, Dobby, Stumpy, Tippsy." Malfoy named off the four elves that belonged to his family.

Harry pretended to consider it for a moment. "Dobby, sounds kind of like my muggle cousin and I've always wanted that fat oaf to have to serve me, if Hermione wins I get Dobby."

So that was it, the whole duel was a way to acquire a house elf. Malfoy had to approve of the method. To someone not trained to see such things it would have probably worked. But Potter had given away more then he intended. That little bit of information about his cousin. While Draco was sure he could beat the mudblood he would still need permission to place one of his family's servants on the line. "I believe that those terms would be acceptable however I will have to speak with my father before I can agree."

"Of course, there's no rush." Harry agreed.

Hermione and Luna managed to keep from laughing until they reached the Hufflepuff table. "Harry that was brilliant."

"Aren't all my plans?" At their looks Harry sighed. "Alright I admit most of my plans hit a few bumps along the road but sometimes I'll come up with a good one."

"We still love you even if most of your plans fail." Luna assured him while she patted his back.

"With a little luck we can have Dobby free before Christmas." Hermione added, she'd seen Malfoy in the dueling club second year. There was no way she could lose, even if she didn't have a wand.

0-O-0

That evening Harry Hermione and Luna snuck out of Hufflepuff and went up to the seventh floor. They had refused to tell Hermione why they were going to the room of requirements though. Luna had been disappointed when Harry vetoed her idea to blindfold Hermione first, pointing out all the stairs they had to navigate.

When Luna summon the room it looked remarkable like the Prefects bathroom, a large tiled bath set into the floor surrounded by dozens of brass taps. Luna handed Hermione another wrapped package, inside was a shinny blue one piece bathing suit. "We can't do most of our birthday traditions for another few years but I really didn't want to miss our bath. Of course that left the problem of Harry, I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem with just us but it wouldn't be right to leave him out either. And if we were both naked with him he'd probably blush so hard his head would explode, and not the one that's supposed to either. So I decided we'd bathe in bathing suits."

"And afterwards we'll give you a massage." Harry added, very nervous about the whole idea. On one level he thought she'd enjoy it. On another, the one of his younger body, it sounded like a horrible cliché idea she'd hate.

"We'll I have missed hot baths." Hermione said as Luna pulled her towards the changing rooms. When they came back out Harry had already run the water from a dozen taps filling the bath with half a dozen colors of bubbles.

Lunas own bathing suit was silver in the same design as Hermione's. They both caught sight of Harry's bright red trunks as he climbed in, matching the blush when he saw them. They followed him in and all of them relaxed in the hot water. Hermione sighed and sank in up to her nose. Luna let her hair float out behind her. Harry let the water relax his muscles in ways a shower couldn't. "Next thing we do at the manor is expand the tub."

"Agreed." The girls chorused.

A short while later Luna retrieved her wand and charmed the bubbles to clump together in the shape of buildings. Once she had a small city she began to smash them in a believable imitation of a giant monster movie. Harry and Hermione soon joined in and the bubble city was reduced to soapy rubble.

Harry made more bubbles and they rebuilt the city, this time they also stuck the bubbles to themselves. Harry received a large pair of bubble horns, Luna sported a sharks fin on her back and Hermione had an extra pair of bubble arms the mimicked the movements of her real ones. The rebuilt city didn't stand a chance.

After almost an hour they got out and dried off. Hermione was directed to lie down on a padded table while Harry cast a few charms to relax her muscles before they began. She groaned as their fingers moved across her skin, Harry began at her feet while Luna started at her shoulders and worked their way along her body. "Oh, where did you two learn this?"

"What we didn't give good massages before?" Harry asked as he worked on her calf. His fingers working the muscle under her pale skin.

"No you were good before but now, ah, so much better." If it wasn't for the occasional discomfort as one of them found a particularly tense muscle Hermione was sure she would have been asleep in minutes.

"You can thank Harry. He had the idea to ask the room for books on magical massages. I always knew England had a lack of books of magical animals but I never realized how many other subjects were missing as well." Luna began to play with Hermione's fingers, she always found it odd how her own were longer then Hermione's despite the brunet being older.

When they finished Luna helped Hermione, now little more than a limp body, out of her swimsuit and into a fluffy white rob before putting on her own. They joined Harry on a couch where Hermione stretched out between them. Harry slowly worked a comb through her hair while Luna hummed and watched the two people she loved the most.

0-O-0

The day after Hermione's birthday she and Luna were waiting in the common room for Harry when they were approached by a smug Ron. "Alright you two listen. Harry wanted me to tell you he's tired of hanging around with you. He felt sorry for both of you cause you didn't have any friends but he wants to spend some time with the blokes and not a mangy know it all and a loon. So knock it off and leave him alone."

The girls traded a quick look before Luna sighed. "Fine go ahead."

"Thank you." Hermione drew her wand and pointed towards Ron who took a step back, uncertain of if she was about to curse him. He had figured they'd just believe him like his mum did. "Araneus! Oppugno!"

A large hairy spider leapt out of Hermione's wand and landed in front of Ron. His red hair and freckles stood out against the paper white skin while a squeaking noise escaped his pressed lips. The spider reared back on its hind legs, its front legs kicking like a horses as it hissed at him.

"AHHH!" Ron spun and ran, tripping over every piece of furniture in the room before he reached the exit. The spider scurrying along behind him.

Luna collapsed against Hermione in a fit of giggle. "It actually hissed at him!"

"Yes I've been working on that one since we came back." Hermione said proudly. It was one of the few non-life threatening ideas she had come up with.

"What will it do if it catches him?" Personally Luna hoped it involved the spider giving him a colonoscopy.

"Just try to pick his nose." Hermione replied. She figured if it came to that Ron would wet himself and pass out first.

"Harry is going to love this. He'll be sorry he missed it though." Luna said as she packed up her charms book for the day's lessons. Absently she wondered if she and Hermione shouldn't look into making a pensieve for their own use.

0-O-0

Luna's own birthday proceeded much as Hermione's had, though Harry and Hermione had spoken with the house elves from the kitchen and changed her cake to several bowls of pudding. The rest of Hufflepuff found it amusing as the little blonde's love of pudding was well known. Among her gifts was a complete set of magical paints from Harry which Luna promised to put to good use as she began recreating the Quibbler cards.

That evening they once again snuck away for a relaxing bath and massage for Luna. However this time before they began Harry took Luna to the couch for an extra surprise. When he unveiled the bowl of her mother's pudding she stared at it in surprise, afraid it would suddenly disappear. "How?"

"I asked your father, he gave me the recipe on the condition that I didn't let you eat it everyday…" Harry was cut off by Luna jumping onto his lap and placing a searing kiss on his lips, one better suited to a passionate snog.

Then she climbed off Harry's lap and scooped up a spoon full of terracotta pudding. It looked right, smelled right. Tentatively she placed the spoon in her mouth. Tears sprung to her eyes as memories of her mother flooded back. Unlike with most sweets she took small bites to savor each one and extend her joy.

While Luna enjoyed her bowl of pudding Hermione examined Harry by poking his head. It lulled to the side, a stupid grin plastered on his face. "I think you broke him."

Luna let her spoon hang from her mouth for a moment. "When I finish this I'll do it again and see if it fixes him."

"And if it doesn't?" Hermione inquired.

"Try again."

"That's the definition of insanity; trying the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome."

"But it'll be fun, oh and feel free to try to fix him as well." Luna enjoyed the deep blush on Hermione's face.

0-O-0

Harry came out of his stupor in time to enjoy their bath. By the end of the evening Luna lay curled up between them on the couch. Her head resting on Hermione lap and her toes curled under him for warmth. "Hey Hermione?"

The older girl continued to run her fingers through Lunas hair as she turned slightly to face Harry. "Yes?"

"Has Luna seemed different since we came back? I mean she still acts like Luna but she also seems, I don't know, more mature?" Harry hadn't yet been able to pin down exactly what the difference was but he knew it was there.

"I have noticed the difference. I think it's because her father is still alive. She's acting more like she did during our fifth year instead of after he died. Her overly childish behavior at times was some kind of coping mechanize to deal with the loss." In truth she was glad some of Lunas more outlandish behaviors had calmed down and she was closer to the girl they had first meet. Hermione absently brushed a strand of hair from Luna's face.

"I guess that makes sense. So which one of us is going to wake her up to go back to Hufflepuff?"

"Not me."

"Damn."

0-O-0

While Harry Hermione and Luna were enjoying their evening the professors were attending a staff meeting. Once the normal reports were out of the way Dumbledore turned to the true purpose of the meeting. "And how has Harry been preforming in class?"

"Potter is a mediocre student who expects others to do his work and coast along on his fame." Snape drawled out. His hatred for the spawn of James Potter had only grown with the discovery that he was more than adequate in potions. Most of his potions were worth an E if not an O even by Snape's perfectionist standards.

"Really? That's not what I've observed." McGonagall said, the other professors nodding their agreement to her statement. "Mr. Potter is often the first to master a spell shortly followed by Miss Lovegood and Miss Granger. Their work is impeccable and their grasp of the theory behind the spells is outstanding."

"Indeed, some of my Eagles have taken to calling them the misplaced trio. I've had several requests to try and sway them to Ravenclaw." Flitwick said from his raised seat.

"There will be no stealing my badgers Filius. But I agree they are the smartest students of their year. If they can keep up their current marks I may suggest they be advanced." Professor Sprout said proudly.

Dumbledore frowned, that would not do at all, it would already be difficult enough to allow Miss Weasley to skip her first year, and if Harry was advanced he would have no chance to place them in the same classes. Molly would not like that. The Headmaster suppressed a shudder, if the Weasleys were not so useful he'd just as soon be done with that woman. Snape didn't take that suggestion any better than he did. "Hasn't Miss Lovegood already been admitted early? Skipping her would be pointless. Besides their marks in my class are barely passable."

"Well it is something to come back to." Albus interrupted, Severus ranting was not what he wanted to listen to even if he agreed with the potion master. "I do not believe we need to make any decision at the moment. Aside from their remarkable academic skills has anyone noticed anything noteworthy about Harry?"

"He's a remarkable flyer."

"He, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood are very adept at assisting the other students."

Dumbledore leaned back as he listened to the praise form the instructors. He had planned for Harry to remain mostly isolated with Ronald acting as his only friend; this would make it easier for others to turn on him at a later point. It was necessary to temper him properly for his final destiny. Now though with those two girls as close as they were reported to be and with a large group of students interacting with him regularly that could become problematic. Perhaps he should see to it that the results of the _investigation_ were leaked somehow.

Along those same thoughts was that Ronald had failed astoundingly in his attempts to gain acceptance to Harrys group. Something must have transpired because on the last occasion that he had approached the first year young Ronald became nervous at the mention of Harry and his friends.

Something needed to be done to move the situation along and quickly before Harry fell any further from his set path. But at this rate Ronald would have to save Harry's life to become his friend.

0-O-0

The days leading up to Halloween saw Harry becoming more and more stressed. It got to the point where on Halloween morning Harry had all but stuck himself to them. During Charms they once again learnt the levitation charm. Because Harry Hermione and Luna preformed the charm so quickly Professor Flitwick asked them to assist the other students.

To Hermione's amusement one of the students she was to help was Ron. Harry glared in the redheads' direction, finding neither the amusement nor the irony that Hermione saw in the situation. He needn't have worried however as Ron barely spoke two words to Hermione, the image of a large hairy spider chasing him throughout the castle still too fresh in his mind.

Whatever good sense he possessed to not insult Hermione during class fled when afterwards he began bad mouthing her to Dean and Seamus as the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs filed out of the classroom. "She's such an insufferable know-it-all, and Loony is just as bad! If they weren't doing Harry's assignments he'd never give them the time of day. I mean did you see Granger in class today? _'It's levi-ass-sa'_ or whatever she was spouting. I've been doing magic since I was born I don't need some muggleborn telling me how to pronounce spells."

"_Hem-hem"_ Hermione did a disturbing impression of Umbridge, which unknown to the trio was also a noise Mrs. Weasley would make when she caught one of her children doing something she disapproved of, before she started yelling. Ron jumped and spun around. His face paling when he saw Hermione flanked by Harry and Luna. Hermione tapped her wand gently against her thigh. "I am impressed Weasley. Insufferable is a big word for you. I can see the time you've not spent doing your homework has allowed you to figure out how to pronounce something correctly."

Whatever part of Ron's mind dedicated to self-preservation must have already shut down because he took a threatening step forward. "What would you know? You're just a muggle slag."

"I know that's a Brazilin hissing spider behind you." Hermione said calmly.

Susan, who had seen Ron running from Hermione's spider last time, let out a hiss, a fairly good imitation of the real thing. Ron screamed and ran down the corridor, throwing his bag behind him in an attempt to delay the non-existent spider. The rest of the students began to laugh and several congratulated Susan for helping to scare Ron away.

As the group of students broke up for their next lesson Harry eyed Hermione. "Are you alright?"

Hermione linked an arm around Harry and Luna. "Honestly Harry I'm fine. I didn't like what he said but I'm mature enough to deal with it. Of course it helps that I know I have you two no matter what. Although if after the feast you wanted to massage my feet to make me feel better I wouldn't complain."

"Well alright, but only for you." Harry said with a shake of his head. Both she and Luna were demanding massages twice a week now.

Luna pouted. "What about me? Maybe I want a footie rub too."

"Not until you learn not to kick. I'm just glad you two fixed my black eye, can you imagine if I had to explain to Madam Pomfrey what happened?"

"It tickled." Luna defended herself.

0-O-0

It took ten minutes after their last class for Hermione to convince Harry that he didn't need to follow her to the bathroom before the feast. It was only agreeing for Luna to guard her while she went that found her any peace from his over protective nature. Well that and promising to stay away from the bathroom she had been trapped in last time.

They had just stepped into the bathroom when two potion soaked rags were shoved into their face. They weakly struggled before they passed out. Several girls lowered Hermione and Luna to the floor. One grabbed the necklace around Luna's neck and ripped it off. "I told you!"

She held the cork out for the others to see. "Protective runes. A stunner would have just fizzled out."

"Fine fine you were right. Now help me carry this bitch to the bathroom."

"Ug, what the hell does she eat?"

"Is the potion ready?"

"Almost, just one more ingredient and letting it boil."

"Will it be ready before the feast?"

"Just about."

"And you're sure it'll work?"

"Of course, they should be fine by seventh year but it'll make sure they leave Potter alone."

"Good, they need to learn their place. Thinking they're better than us just because they're riding Harry's fame to being their year's top students."

Hermione and Luna were pulled from the bathroom and down the corridor. Several other girls kept a look out for students as they were dragged into another bathroom that had been hidden under several concealment charms.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to my Beta Katzztar and drscot.)


	14. Trolls are Tough

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Fourteen: Trolls are Tough

0-O-0

Harry sat at the Hufflepuff table bouncing his leg with impatience as the last students hurried in for the Halloween feast. Hermione and Luna should have gotten back already but there hadn't been any sign of them. He knew he should have gone with Hermione. He was about to leave and look for them when Dumbledore stood and began his speech, harry waited impatiently for the headmaster to finish so he could sneak out. Half way through the speech the doors slammed open and Quirrell staggered in. "Troll! In the dungeon, thought that you'd want to know."

Instead of fainting the possessed DADA professor just collapsed. Some small part of Harry absently thought it was more believable than his faint, of course he was also much earlier this time around as well. Students began screaming as Dumbledore tried to restore order.

0-O-0

The bathroom door burst open. "There's a troll in the castle! It's coming this way!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Two of the girls looked up from the potion cauldron they had brewing.

"I was in the dungeon getting the powdered raven beaks and saw a troll! It's coming this way we have to leave!"

"Shit." The girls began to run out the door, dropping Hermione and Luna's clothes along with their wands next to the potion. "What about them."

"Leave them! The door is hidden."

"Those charms won't stop a troll, they use smell!"

"Screw them I'm not risking my life for a couple of slags."

0-O-0

The prefects took charge of the younger students and lead them back towards their common rooms. Harry ducked away the first chance he got and checked the Marauders Map. His eyes shot towards the same bathroom Hermione had been trapped in last time. There was Hermione's dot and Luna's next to her. He wiped the map and charged down the corridor.

Harry reached the end of the corridor where the bathroom should have been and stopped, there was no door. The bathroom door should have been right there but the wall was blank. His wand snapped up and several revealing charms showed the door to the bathroom hidden behind notice-me-not charms. Powerful ones. He dispelled them and ran inside.

Hermione and Luna were lying on the floor completely naked. Neither appeared harmed and a quick ennervate woke both of them. Hermione was the first to recover. "Harry? Bugger what happened now?"

Before harry could answer the bathroom door flew from the wall and impacted the nearest toilet stall. Scattering a cauldron someone had left on the floor. The troll lumbered in, ducking to fit through the door. Its nose jerked as it smelled them, tiny eyes leered at the three first years. Before it could raise its club for the first swing Harrys wand shot up. "Reducto!"

In the old time line his spell would have taken off the trolls head, now with his reduced magic behind it the spell was similar to a large fist slamming into the trolls face. Its nose broke and it staggered backwards before collapsing.

"Not that I don't love waking up naked next to both of you but what's going on?" Luna asked as she climbed to her feet, the tile floor was cold!

Harry blushed as the fact that Hermione and Luna were both naked sank in. He ripped off his robes and handed them to Hermione, followed by his shirt for Luna. Thankfully she was still short enough that it came down to her mid thighs. "You never came back for the feast, the troll showed up early and I found you both here naked."

"Oh. Harry may I borrow your wand?" Hermione asked. When he handed it over she cast a quick charm on herself and Luna before sighing in relief. She handed it back to Harry. "Just checking to make sure no one tired anything while we were unconscious."

Harry looked sick at the thought. Before he could voice his disgust at anyone trying that on Hermione or Luna the troll coughed and sat up. Its face was a mess of blood and pulp. It stood on shaky legs before it turned towards them, harry kept his wand raised wondering if a second reductor curse would be enough to bring it down for good when the troll roared. Spittle flew from its mouth, a large glob landing on Harry's bare shoulder.

As the troll raised its club Harry shouted the first spell that entered his mind. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Harry had planned to replicate the feat from last time and knock the troll out with its own club. Except this time the club flew from the trolls hand and soared over their heads. It crashed through the stained glass window behind them. Its metal frame groaned as it was ripped from the castle wall. A cascade of glass shattered on the cobblestone below. Rain blew in through the new opening.

Sheepishly harry looked at Hermione and Luna. "Oops?"

The troll looked at its hands in confusion. Harry cast another reducto at its face. The trolls head whipped back but it didn't go down, instead its attention was refocused on Harry. The troll had wised up, as much as it was capable of, and blocked its face when Harry tried again. "Any suggestions?"

"Run." Hermione said, she and Luna hurried towards the destroyed window with harry following. Two reductos broke the sinks along the wall and a freezing charm covered the floor in ice. The troll slammed its foot down splintering the ice. It roared again.

There was a narrow ledge outside the window. Hermione leaned out and looked both ways. To the right the ledge ended in a gargoyle water spout, to the left it passed under the window to the boys restroom. "I think we'll have to climb."

"Go, I'll stall the troll." Harry shouted as a gust of wind drove another sheet of rain through the window frame. He turned and tried a tripping jinx on the troll without success.

Hermione went first, followed by Luna. The ledge wasn't particularly narrow but it was wet and the wind grabbed at them as they pressed themselves against the castle and slid their feet along the slick, slimy stone. Harry stepped out after them. The rain soaked their clothes in moments but at least it washed the troll slobber from Harry's bare chest.

The troll stuck its head out and watched them. Then to Harry's horror it tentatively stuck out its own leg. Its massive foot barely fit on the ledge but fit it did. The troll squeezed itself out after them, harry was sure the ledge was about to collapse under its massive weight, the masonry cracked but the troll was unconcerned. Its prey was getting away, its prey that had hurt it. Trolls were sore losers by nature and didn't take injuries well. Being that prideful and stupid was a dangerous combination.

"Hurry!" Harry shouted above the wind. He tried another reducto but the troll was ignoring them now. Not surprising since harry could feel his magic was nearly gone. While a first years magic is naturally lower than other years what is often forgotten is that they are also less attuned to their magic. Meaning more magic was wasted in each spell. So while in a few years he could have kept slinging reductor curses for an hour now a half dozen of them had tired him out.

The troll's hand passed closer to harry as it tried to grab him. It grunted in annoyance that its prey continued to move away just out of its reach. Luna and Hermione reached the window. "Harry we need a way in."

"Reducto!" The effort left harry huffing slightly but the window shattered in. The girls climbed over the glass still attached to the window seal. Their bare feet were cut by the shards littering the floor, they winced but didn't stop. Harry climbed in after them. The troll was not going to be denied and lunged after them. Its massive hand grabbed Harry's leg and lifted him into the air. One massive leg stepped through the window as it held up its prize.

Hermione snatched a shard of glass from the floor. Luna found another. Together they drove the glass into the troll's leg. The glass cut deeply into their hands. Blood welled up as they sliced into its leg. The troll roared in rage and swung its massive arm. Knocking them into the wall. The mirrors shattered as they hit. Their bodies fell, breaking the sinks under them.

The troll grunted and turned back to harry holding the first year up, brining him towards its mouth. Its foul breath boiled up from its throat. Rage filled harry, he jabbed his wand into the troll's mouth and shouted "Sectumsempra!"

The spell tore down the troll's esophagus. It dropped harry and clutched its throat. A wet gurgle escaped its mouth as it stumbled around the room. Harry crawled toward Hermione and Luna as darkness ate away at his vision. The last thing he saw before he fell unconscious was the troll stumbled out the window and Dumbledore entering the room.

0-O-0

Luna shot bolt upright in her hospital bed. Hermione was laying in the bed next to her, but she couldn't see Harry. Madam Pomfrey walked over as soon as her charms alerted her that one of her patients had awoken. "Miss Lovegood how are you feeling?"

"Fine, where's Harry? Is he alright?"

"How are your hands?"

"How is Harry?" Luna asked more forcefully.

The healer sighed. "Mr. Potter will make a full recovery as I expect both you and Miss Granger to do. Now how do you feel?"

"Fine, where's Harry?"

"I will allow you to see Mr. Potter once you tell me what happened and why you are wearing his shirt, and why is Miss Granger wearing his robes?" Madam Pomfrey asked while she cast several diagnostic charms. She had easily healed the cuts on Lunas feet and hands, the slight concussion was more serious but a few potions would have that set right by morning. The bruises on her back were almost gone as well. More concerning was the state they were all found in.

Luna explained how someone shoved a potion soaked rag in her face and the next thing she knew Harry was waking them up in the bathroom. Part way through her explanation of the troll following them out the window Hermione regained consciousness and helped her fill in the story. "Now can we see Harry?"

"Very well. If you are able to stand you can see him." Madam Pomfrey informed them. Really she just wanted to check on their coordination but a little motivation wasn't going to harm them. They both got out of their bed with little trouble much to her pleasure. She kept a close eye on them as she led them behind a privacy screen where Harry was laying on a hospital bed. She tried not to smile at their concerned looks, it was rather cute. "I assure you Mr. Potter will make a full recovery; he exhausted his magic though so he will be out for a bit. Which will give me time to make sure his bumps and bruises have properly healed. Miss Lovegood what are you doing?"

Luna had gone to the nearest bed and was busy shoving it towards Harrys. The metal frame groaned as it was shoved across the floor. "His bed is too small."

"You will not be joining him!"

"Both Hermione and I were attacked by students and almost killed by a troll. Harry saved our lives. If you think I'm letting him out of my sight before he wakes up you are mistaken. Besides aren't we all a bit young to do what I'm sure you're worried about us doing?"

"Perhaps but I will not set a precedent now." With a wave of her wand the bed returned to its former position and Luna fell unceremoniously to the floor.

"Ow. That was rude."

"You have both seen that Mr. Potter is fine, now return to your beds."

"Have you contacted my father yet?" Luna asked, still sitting on the floor.

"The Headmaster assured me that he will take care of it."

"I believe it is your duty as the healer to contact parents." Hermione supplied.

"Must you both be so difficult?"

"Yes." They replied in unison.

"Very well Miss Lovegood I will make sure your father is informed." Pomfrey thought for a moment before she decided to give them a small peace offering. "You may sit with Mr. Potter until I return but then it is back to your own beds."

Luna and Hermione each sat on one side of Harry's bed and took a hand. "Hermione?"

"Yes Luna?" Hermione replied as she ran a thumb over Harry's hand. Even with occlumency it felt like the events of that night were about to crush her.

Luna grabbed Harry's wand from the table and cast a privacy charm around them. "It wasn't this bad the first time was it?"

"No, not nearly this bad." She hadn't been knocked out and kidnapped last time. The troll had stayed down, they hadn't been forced to climb out a window. What had happened? It didn't make any sense.

"If we know what's coming then how does it keep turning out worse? First you end up here and now Harry. Hermione I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you." Luna said as tears began to streak down her cheeks. They dropped onto Harrys hand and the bed sheets.

Hermione got up and went to hug the blonde and whispered to her. "I don't know why things are happening like they are. I suppose this is what Santa warned us about. Time is resisting the larger changes. And it will until we finally defeat Voldemort."

Luna bowed her head and swiped at her eyes. When she looked up there was steel in her eyes. Hermione recognized the look; Luna wore it when she became focused. It was a look the Death Eaters had learned to fear. "Then we need to finish him quickly before something happens to you or Harry."

"Or you." Hermione threw her arm over Luna's shoulder and pulled the smaller girl close. "Neither Harry nor I will accept anything happening to you either."

Luna smiled and gave her a chaste kiss. "Do you think we can finish the medallion design by Christmas? Then we could buy the materials and hopefully have it finished by February. Maybe we can take care of him early. I can never concentrate in defense knowing Voldemort is under that turban."

Hermione chewed on her lip. "I know, my skin crawls every time he walks by our desk. I think we can finish the design before we leave."

"Good. Did anything else big happen that we need to worry about before he went after the Philosophers' Stone?"

"Harry gets the invisibility cloak, finds the mirror. Hagrid gets Norbert, our detention in the forest. That is something we'll have to figure out. I can think of a dozen ways that could go wrong." Hermione began listing off the events even though they had gone through them a dozen times before they came back.

"We could just avoid getting detention." Luna suggested.

"With our luck that won't work. At least we should be clear until after Christmas."

"'Should be' being the key word."

0-O-0

Xeno appeared in front of the Granger's home. It was a little before midnight and the house was predictably dark. He had just left Hogwarts where he had spoken with his daughter and Hermione. This was the second time in as many months that Harry had come to the rescue of his daughter and he was not pleased. Dumbledore's refusal too meet with him and discus the event, supposedly because he was still busy investigating it, did not improve Xeno's mood.

Now it was his duty to inform the Grangers of what little he knew. He suspected the story Luna had told him had been edited a bit but he hadn't pushed her on it. Reluctantly he rang the doorbell and waited. It took several minutes for lights to come on and Jean to answer the door. As soon as she saw him her face went ashen. Xeno held up his hands to stop her from jumping to conclusions. "Hermione is fine. May I come in?"

"Of course." She stepped aside and Xeno stepped in. They walked into the kitchen followed by Dan. "If Hermione's fine then why are you here? Is it Luna?"

Xeno hid his smile at their concern for his own daughter. "No she is fine as well but there was an incident today that I thought you should know about. This evening someone played a nasty prank on Hermione and Luna that got out of hand."

Jean covered her mouth. Hermione had been bullied most of her time in primary school including several nasty pranks. They always left her daughter in tears when she got home. "What happened?"

"Someone stole her and Luna's clothes and locked them in a bathroom. On its own this was an exceptional mean spirited prank however there was something else. Somehow a troll managed to get into the castle. That's never happened before and should be impossible but it did." Xeno pulled out a picture of a troll and handed it to the Grangers. He had picked one of the few he had where the troll was not engaged in violent activity.

The Grangers gasped at the size of the creature in the moving picture. It was easily ten feet tall and even just lumbering around the forest its massive arms looked like they could rip up a tree. Xeno broke them from their thoughts. "The school having a feast this evening, when Harry realized neither Luna nor Hermione had shown up he went to find them. He found them just before the troll did and managed to deal with it. I understand it was an exceptional display of magic that left him completely exhausted but otherwise everyone was alright." He didn't feel the need to mention to scraps and cuts that had been easily healed. Muggles tended to get upset over even minor injuries.

"Harry, that small boy took care of something like this?" Dan waved the picture in front of Xenos face.

The wizard barely blinked. "Yes. A very impressive feat I can assure you.

"But everyone is alright?" Jean asked.

"Yes, as I said Harry got the worst of it with exhaustion. Well as I understand it both Luna and Hermione were understandably embarrassed at Harry finding them without clothes however Luna says as soon as he realized their state he turned again and gave Hermione his robes and Luna his shirt so that they could preserve their modesty." Xeno explained.

Dan frowned. He was glad Harry had protected them but he wasn't happy with him finding his daughter in a state of undress. Jean was having similar thoughts. "They must have been mortified. What did the headmaster say about all this?"

"Only that it is still under investigation."

"How upset was Hermione?" Jean was dreading the answer, picturing her daughter begging to come home.

"Oddly enough she seemed more worried about your reaction then the events themselves. Though I think it would be a good idea for her to come home for a few days. I imagine that it hasn't fully sunk in yet what almost happened. I'm planning to bring Luna home until the end of the week." Xeno sighed deeply. "This is the second time since Luna has been attending Hogwarts that something dangerous has happened. I'm going to look into some of the other magic schools. I can forward you the information if you'd like."

"Yes, thank you. I think it would be best if we could talk to Hermione in person."

"I'll pick them up tomorrow morning then. When would be a good time to bring her back?"

Dan and Jean traded a look. "We can't both call is sick tomorrow Dan, you go and I'll stay here."

"Alright."

"Anytime is fine. You and Luna can join us for breakfast if you like."

"Thank you that would be wonderful"

0-O-0

The hospital wing was dark with only the light from the moon spilling in through the windows at the end of the room. The storm had blown itself out sometime while they were still unconscious. Luna lay on her bed, unable to sleep. It was well into the night when the doors opened quietly and two figures stepped in. She could recognize Dumbledore and Snape even in the weak light. The headmaster's indigo robes twinkled in the moonlight. They went straight to Madam Pomfrey's office.

Luna waited until the office door had closed before she quietly climbed out of bed. She waited several moments in case there were any charms monitoring her bed. When no one came to check on her she made her way to the office door. To her surprise they hadn't even bothered with privacy charms. Really nothing to monitor those in the ward or to insure privacy? It was a bit disappointing. Still it made it easier for her.

"…recovery. But I don't expect him to awaken until sometime tomorrow afternoon at the earliest." Madam Pomfrey's muffled voice said.

"I am pleased that there was no lasting damage." That was Dumbledore.

"Have you discovered anything else yet?"

"Yes. Severus has identified the potion found in the girl's bathroom."

"I had to check several reference books to finally identify it. The potion is fairly obscure, used mostly in the Carrabin Islands. When placed onto a wound it will cause ugly scaring that is resistant to most treatments, however not permanent. I have analyzed the potion and I believe if it had been used on either Granger or Lovegood they would have borne the scars until sometime in their sixth year."

Madam Pomfrey gasped. "Albus this goes far beyond a school yard prank."

"I agree and I will continue to look into it I assure you."

"You had better. What of the troll?"

"As I reported earlier it is quite dead. However it was not the fall as I assumed but rather a powerful cutting curse to the inside of its throat. A nasty way to go." Dumbledore informed the healer.

Luna was forced to return to her bed before she could hear what was said next as one of the people in the office moved towards the door. She was safely under her covers and pretending to be asleep when the Headmaster and Snape left. Harry was not going to like what that potion would have done.

0-O-0

Luna was surprised when in the morning she was awoken by her father. She reached up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Daddy?"

"I brought you some clothes. Both you and Hermione will be coming home for a few days." Xeno had expected Luna to be happy to be coming home even for a short time. He was mistaken.

"But Harrys not awake yet! And we can't just leave him here."

"I'm sorry Moonbeam but I can only take you and Hermione."

"Then don't take us!" Luna was almost frantic. Who knew what would happen to Harry if they weren't there to watch after him.

"He will be fine I promise now get dressed. I'm afraid the clothes you had in the bathroom were ruined but your wands are fine." Xeno stood and pulled the privacy curtains closed as she left.

When Luna came out, now fully dressed, she found a gloomy Hermione waiting for her. "I thought you had your father wrapped around your finger?"

"I thought I did. Then again I never almost got killed by a troll before. What are we going to do? We can't just leave Harry here."

"I don't see what we can do. Your father is set on taking us home. I wrote Harry a note and gave it to Hedwig. I also left Crookshanks to guard him. Hopefully those two can keep him out of trouble until we can get back." Hermione said. With any luck she could convince her parents to let her return quickly. She was expecting a fight to convince them to let her return at all though.

Reluctantly they followed Xeno to Professor Sprout's office where they used the floo to travel to the Rookery. From there Xeno apparated them one at a time to Hermione house for breakfast.

0-O-0

At the same time they were being apparated to the Rookery, Ginny sat at the Burrow's kitchen table reading one of Charlie's old defense books. Her mum had told her how Harry was top of the year in defense so she had focused mostly on that subject. Her mum assured her it would help to have some common ground. Of course her mum also had her working on potions after lunch until her father got home.

Molly knew that for Ginny to compete for Harry's affection she'd need more than just common ground. She'd need to offer him something. And at their ages the best Ginny could do would be help in a class he was almost failing.

They covered the other subjects some as well but Dumbledore had informed her that he would take care of her placement tests and insure she was in Hufflepuff as well as second year. Sadly Ron didn't seem to be making any headway. Molly had half a letter written to Percy instructing him to try and get closer to Harry somehow. While the twins were closer to him in age she was hesitant to let them anywhere near the child. One wrong prank could set them back months.

Ginny was heartbroken when she learned she could have gone to Hogwarts with Harry but had missed her chance. Now she was focused on making it into Harry's year so she could still be with him. As far as she was concerned having Luna know Harry already gave her a way into their group. She barely paid attention to the fact that Luna hadn't responded to any of her letters yet.

As far as she was concerned by this time next year Harry would be hopelessly in love with her.

0-O-0

Number 4 had not been a happy place in recent months. They were on their third refrigerator in as many months and no one could tell them why they kept breaking. Petunia's garden was wild and unkempt, anything that wasn't a weed died within hours of being planted. The weeds though were flourishing. Two gardeners had already quit saying it was hopeless. The last had suggested she pave it over and consider a nice rock garden.

Petunia's mood was made even fouler when an electrician had suggested that faulty wiring was the cause of the refrigerators breaking. The good news was that the wiring of the house was up to code. The bad news was that he discovered extensive termite damage to the structure of the house. Now while it was being fumigated they were forced to stay at the Farfield Inn. She was mortified at what the neighbors must think. What with their overgrown garden and now bug infested house.

As she had done for years Petunia turned to blame the one person she always had. Harry. The fact that he had disappeared before September only cemented her reasoning in her mind. He vanished and everything fell apart. Not to mention poor Dudley. He'd already gone through five uniforms that year. The cheap fabric they used just fell apart on him.

As soon as that freak returned next summer she would work him until he bled.

Back at Number 4 the exterminators were busy attempting to pinpoint a strange humming noise. None of them thought to check the large stone buried under the garden. Not that they could have reached it through the weeds without heavy equipment. Slowly the ward stone was building towards a magnificent failure.

0-O-0

In an unused classroom several girls met. "I can't believe we did that! They could have been killed."

"How were we supposed to know a troll would get into the castle?"

"We couldn't have. Not our fault."

"But we were going to maim two first years! That's just wrong. I can't believe you talked me into that."

"I know, it's my seventh year I should be focused on N.E.W.T's!"

"You're in the same boat as the rest of us, you need to find a husband soon or your parents will pick."

"Mine already have, if I can't find someone better in two years it's some business partner of my dad's."

"Forget this. I won't help again."

"So what's the plan now?"

"Nothing, we gambled and lost. We should be thankfully it didn't turn out worse. We almost got Potter killed."

Most of the girls shared this sentiment and the group disbanded. However two did not. "Are we really giving up on him?"

"No, we just need to be cunning. We were put into Slytherin for a reason. Besides that potion isn't the only thing I picked up from my grandmother. But we'll need time. Nothing before January."

"What about the others? What if one of them decides to talk?"

"Well what spell has your uncle been teaching you?"

"Oh! Right. I can just obliviate them."

"No, just remove any memory of us being involved. If they all forget that night they'll definitely report it."

"I don't know, even my uncle would have trouble with something like that."

"Just do it."

0-O-0

It wasn't until the next morning that Harry finally awoke. He groaned when he saw the hospital wing. The annoyance he felt upon waking up under Madam Pomfrey's care turned to panic when he realized he was the only person there, the other beds were empty. "Hermione? Luna?"

Shakily he climbed out of bed. Madam Pomfrey caught him half way to the door. "Mr. Potter! Back to bed with you this instant!"

"Where are Hermione and Luna, ...they aren't..., they didn't!?" The words caught in his throat. He remembered them hitting the bathroom mirror and skins. An icy claw crawled up his spine.

"They are fine. Perfectly healthy." She assured him.

Harry let out a deep breath and collapsed on the nearest bed. "Thank Merlin."

"And you should make a full recovery too. However I don't want you to cast any spells for at least another day. Your magical core was almost completely drained." Madam Pomfrey said while she cast several charms on Harry to check his progress. His core was recovering well and his other injuries were healed already.

"Where are Hermione and Luna?"

"They were each taken home for a few days. They should be back by the end of the week. I believe Miss Granger left a letter with your owl for you. Who, by the way, does not look at all pleased." Madam Pomfrey said.

Harry turned and found Hedwig at the foot of the bed glaring at him. Madam Pomfrey tried not to chuckle at Harry's expression of horror. "I need to inform the Headmaster that you're awake. As for you, nothing too serious as I don't want to have to put him back together again."

Hedwig barked without taking her massive eyes from Harry. She didn't speak until the healer had returned to her office. _"Imagine my surprise when I returned from hunting yesterday and found out that you had almost been killed by a troll."_

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Harry asked weakly.

"_No. However I will do as the healer has requested and not break you. Now."_ Hedwig flew back to Harry's bed and grabbed a letter from the nightstand. Harry opened it to find Hermione's neat handwriting.

_Harry, _

_Luna's Dad told my parents what happened and they want me home for a few days. I'll try to get back as soon as I can, so will Luna. Write us as soon as you are awake. We're both sorry we couldn't be there._

_Love Always, _

_Hermione_

Harry looked around for a quill and ink, or one of Hermione's pens. Before he found something to write with Dumbledore entered the hospital wing. His concerned grandfatherly smile plastered across his face. "Harry my boy, it is so good to see you up. You frightened all of us a great deal. Would you care to explain what happened?"

Harry sighed at the interruption but knew there was no way he could escape this conversation short of having Hedwig spirit him away. It was tempting. But that was a secret best left undiscovered for now. Harry recounted everything that had happened with a few liberties added to cover his use of the Marauders Map. He also didn't mention seeing the Headmaster enter the bathroom, curious to see if Dumbledore would try and take credit for saving them. When he finished the Headmaster wore a disappointed expression.

"That is quiet a tale indeed. I regret to inform you that the troll succumbed to its injuries. I realize you must be upset at the loss of life." He said solemnly.

It was so over the top Harry knew the Dumbledore was searching for something, watching his reaction to the news. _Probably wants to see if I actually regret killing the beast._ "I am sorry it died but I would kill it again to protect my friends."

"That is a bit cold do you not think? It was a living creature that had the misfortune of wondering into a strange environment."

"If it hadn't threatened Hermione and Luna I wouldn't have had to fight it. I will protect them from whatever may try and do them harm." Harry could tell Dumbledore wasn't happy with his statement.

"Well that is your choice. I hope while you are here though that you learn killing is not always the answer. Sometimes we must give of ourselves instead. Now on to the matter of what happened after you passed out. While it was your spell that killed the beast it was only the timely arrival and heroic actions of Ronald Weasley that allowed all of you to survive. I know you are not aware of it but when one wizard saves another at the risk of their own a bond is formed. You owe Mr. Weasley a life debt. Not only for yourself but for Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood as well." The Headmaster was pleased with his little bit of trickery. This was a golden opportunity to place Ronald directly into the center of the group. He was sure when she returned Miss Granger would look up life debts and he had already carefully rearranged the library to show only the information he wanted her to find.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to my Beta Katzztar and drscot.)


	15. Kuchisake

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Fifteen: Kuchisake

0-O-0

The days dragged by for Harry without Hermione and Luna. When he was finally released from the hospital wing it was evening and he made his way to the great hall for dinner. The first thing he heard as he sat down was Ron sprouting off about how he had saved Harry. Listening in, it took an incredible force of will not to hex the redhead. To listen to the way Ron told it Harry, Hermione and Luna were huddled together in a corner like frightened sheep when Ron burst in and began an epic duel with the troll. Unfortunately most of the school seemed to be hanging on Ron's every word.

Harry ate quickly and slipped out without anyone seeing him. He immediately went back to his dorm and wrote to Hermione and Luna. Their responses were less than ideal to him, even if he did agree. It was decided that Harry would play along with Ron being a 'friend' at least until they returned to school to try and get a better idea of what Dumbledore was up to. Or at least make the Headmaster think his plan was working.

Their plan was easier said than done. Ron reminded Harry of a muggle talking toy as he only seemed to repeat a few phrases over and over again.

Hedwig was still upset with him for almost getting killed and Crookshanks had taken Hermione's orders to guard him seriously. Throughout the day the sound of scurrying padded paws followed Harry around the castle. That there was no visible source of the noise alarmed several people.

Transfiguration was a rare reprieve from the Kneazle's ever watchful eye. Harry was thankful that Crookshanks seemed to be afraid of McGonagall, or as he called her Professor Cat. Unfortunately that meant he had no-one to distract him from Ron.

The class had moved from transfiguring a match into a needle to a needle into wood. Harrys own needle was now made of a highly polished dark wood. Ron's was still metal after a few halfhearted attempts to transfigure it. He was now poking Harry's with his wand. "Looks like you've got a bit of a crack in it, not to worry this is some highly advanced magic. Like the kind I used when fighting that troll."

Harry's needle caught fire on the last poke and they jumped back. McGonagall hurried over. "Mr. Potter! What happened?"

"Ron was poking my needle with his wand and it caught fire." Harry replied evenly.

"Was not!" Ron denied his involvement. The fact that the tip of his wand was currently on fire didn't work in his favor.

The professor put out his wand and gave Harry another needle. "Mr. Weasley that will be five points from Hufflepuff for not minding your own work."

"I was just trying to point out Harry's mistake!"

McGonagall turned to Harry who had already transfigured his new needle. "Considering he seems to have a grasp of the lesson while you have yet to properly preform the transfiguration you will forgive me if I do not believe you. And Mr. Potter; ten points to Hufflepuff for your wonderful transfiguration."

"Thank you professor."

As soon as McGonagall had moved on, Ron turned on him glaring angrily and said in a harsh whisper. "Why did you tell her that?!"

"Because it was the truth. You should focus on your own work instead of trying to find imaginary faults with mine." Harry said absently. An idea had just occurred to him of a good way to prank Ron; he'd need to talk with the twins.

"I saved your life, you owe me. If I call in that life debt I could have all of you as my servants. So you better be nicer to me. In fact I think you'll need to do something to make this up to me. Maybe buying me a new broom to show your appreciation." Ron said smugly. Visions of how amazing his flying would be on a new broom filled his head.

"I'll get right on that." Harry said sarcastically. Not that he expected Ron to pick up on it. He wasn't sure if Ron had always been so dense or if it was only his extra life experience that let him see how tiny Ron's mind was.

"Excellent. So enjoying hanging out with the blokes now that those birds are gone? I bet it feels good not to have them nagging you about homework all the time." Ron asked while waving his wand around his needle. The charred tip touched the needle as the metal rusted over. He blinked in surprise.

Harry almost hit his head on the desk. Uncontrolled magic introduced to metals often resulted in corrosion. It wasn't that impressive. "Neither Hermione or Luna ever nagged me about homework."

"Sure they did."

Harry hoped Hermione and Luna came back soon. Ignoring everything Ron had done in the last time line this Ron was still annoying enough to justify murder.

0-O-0

The days following Hermione's return home were tense at the Grangers house. It had started out good, her mother had been surprised that she wasn't more upset over what had happened and asked for details. Hermione stuck with the story that Luna had provided. Some mean spirited pranksters had stolen their clothes and locked them in a bathroom. Harry found them and gave them his clothes, the troll had stumbled in and Harry had knocked it out with a single spell. In truth she had enjoyed seeing her parents again, it wasn't until they mentioned the possibility of moving her to a different school that things went downhill.

The argument could have been avoided if she had just informed them that she was from the future, however she was still too afraid of how they would react. She had asked Luna not to mention anything about it yet either.

Dan and Jean reached their wits end when Hermione had threatened to purposely fail all her classes if they forced her to another school. The daughter they had sent to Hogwarts would have never considered failing a single class for any reason and it left them unsure how to proceed. The problem was that they were arguing with Hermione as if she was the child she seemed to be. Not the adult she mentally was.

Now, two days later Hermione sat at the desk in her room working on the course work she was missing. Harry had sent a list of assignments for her along with the necessary books. His letter said Tonks had retrieved them for her and Luna.

She was part way through her charms scroll when her mother knocked on her doorframe. "Hermione dear, do you mind if we talked?"

"Of course not. But you won't convince me to change schools."

Jean sighed in exasperation. "Why not?"

"Harry; I won't leave him behind. He's my friend." Hermione said flatly. This was the same conversation they had had half a dozen times already.

"But you wouldn't be without friends. Luna would be with you." The Grangers had been surprised when Xeno informed them that Luna was also refusing to consider another school. None of them could figure out why except that they were each afraid of losing their friends. The prospect of one of their friends going with them didn't seem to matter though and only confused them further.

"Luna and Harry are my friends. Neither of them would leave me behind and I won't leave either of them."

"What if we spoke to Harry's guardians as well about letting him transfer too?"

Hermione had to hold back a snort. Harry couldn't transfer without the approval of his magical guardian and Dumbledore would never let Harry leave Hogwarts. That was the sticking point she Luna and Harry had been writing to each other about over the last day. The best solution was to free Sirius and have him take over Harry's guardianship. A dozen half formed and dissuaded plans took of space on Hermione's desk. "Give us until the end of first year."

"But Hermione that's several months away."

"I know but it would be difficult to transfer us until then anyways. Besides didn't you and dad always tell me to stick it out when I was being bullied in primary school? This was an accident and I'm not ready to give up on Hogwarts yet." Hermione said. Really she would walk away from Hogwarts the minute she was sure Luna and Harry could join her. After they caught Voldemort's soul the rest could be picked off at their leisure. The diary was the only time sensitive Horcrux.

Before Jean could answer Hedwig swooped in through the window and landed on Hermione's desk. She took Harry's letter and offered her a slice of turkey. Jean frowned in confusion. "Didn't Harry send you a letter just a few hours ago?"

"Yes, and I wrote back and this is his response. Post owls can be very fast. And Hedwig is the quickest of them all." Hermione stroked Hedwig's head affectionately. The snowy owl leaned into her touch.

Jean continued to frown but nodded. "If you say so. I'll talk to your father about letting you finish the year but no promises."

0-O-0

Hermione and Luna sat on the couch in the Grangers living room. Their parents were in the kitchen discussing what they would do. "Hermione, what if they won't let us go back?"

"Then we'll just have to explain everything to them and hope for the best. If that doesn't work… Well I'm not sure, but we'll get back to Harry." Hermione assured the younger girl.

Almost an hour had passed before their parents finally came out. They looked at the girls before Dan spoke. "Because both of you are so adamant about continuing at least until the end of the year. And because Xeno has assured us something like this hasn't happened before you will both be allowed to return. However if anything else happens we are going to pull you from that school. No matter how much you might complain."

Xeno nodded to show his support. "I will take both of you back tonight in time for dinner…"

He was cut off by both girls throwing their arms around them in a massive hug. Dan gave his wife a pointed look. He was convinced that something else they hadn't been told about was going on and their daughter's reaction just gave him more reason to be suspicious.

0-O-0

Dumbledore appeared near Luna's home, lurking in a thicket of bramble. He had finally found a few hours to investigate the strange occurrences in the area. Namely Harry's owl disappearing from this location and reappearing in China. Had he arrived even a week earlier he would still have found traces of the ward he was looking for. Now however the spell had fully broken down, any trace it left absorbed into the Lovegood's normal wards.

The Headmaster spent so long seeking out the mysterious occurrence, checking for wards or other strange sources of magic that he missed dinner at Hogwarts. Unfortunately for him by the time he returned to Hogwarts any chance Ron had of being a part of Harry's group would be well and truly gone.

0-O-0

Harry sat anxiously at the Hufflepuff table during dinner. Hermione had sent him a letter earlier that her parents and Luna's father were discussing whether to send them back to Hogwarts or not. While he was sure they would return he was more worried about what they'd have to reveal. He knew Hermione wanted to keep their involvement in time travel hidden for as long as possible, both he and Luna agreed, understanding her fear of being rejected by her parents.

Next to him Ron sat bragging about how he was planning to join the Quidditch team when he got his new broom, still believing that Harry was actually going to buy him one.

The rest of the Hufflepuff quidditch team watched with distain. At their last practice Ron had tagged along and spent most of the time criticizing their plays. Telling them how he thought things should be done. Acting as if he was a professional player doing them a favor by watching them train. The saddest part for them was that Ron seemed to really believe what he was spouting.

Their attention was taken from the annoying redhead when Harry leapt to his feet and rushed towards the entrance of the great hall. Hermione and Luna had just arrived. He nearly knocked them over as he wrapped his arms around them. They enthusiastically returned the hug. "You guys have no idea how much I've missed you."

"We missed you too. We can catch up later though; neither of us has eaten yet." Blood had rushed to Hermione's cheeks as nearly everyone in the great hall focused on them.

Harry moved so he had an arm around each girl's waist and they walked back towards the Hufflepuff table, only to find an enraged Ron blocking their path. His face was red, his shoulders hunched and his eyes scrunched up in a deep glare. "What the bloody hell Harry?!"

"What?" Harry asked innocently.

"What are you doing with _them_?" Ron spit the word.

"I am escorting them to dinner."

"You're not supposed to want to be with them anymore! What about us?"

"Us? There is no us Ron. Wait. Oh Merlin! Is that why you keep following me around? Ok I'm cool if you're into blokes but I am strictly interested in the ladies." To prove his point he pulled Hermione and Luna tighter against himself. "Besides even if I did like guys like that I'd like to think I could do better then you. I bet even Crabbe and Goyle have learned not to leave their bags in the middle of their common room."

Most of the Hufflepuff table nodded. Several had experienced accidents tripping over Ron's bag which he dropped as soon as he entered the common room, right in front of the door. If it wasn't there then chances were he left it somewhere else where it would cause a hazard. Even a prefect talking to him about it hadn't helped, his reason being that he did so at home so he could there.

Looking back over the last few days it was easy to see how Ron's actions could be those of a lovesick kid. He did tend to follow Harry around and several had heard him suggest that he and Harry go to some private area for a game of chess. And he was always talking about blokes being better than girls. To most of the house it was a reasonable explanation.

Ron didn't think so. "What! I am not a poofter!"

"It's ok Ron, seriously it's cool but I'm not so you should give up."

"But what about my broom!"

Luna couldn't keep quiet any longer. "You want Harry to buy you a broom but you don't want to do any work. Don't the muggles have a word for something like that? A sweet uncle?"

"Sugar Daddy." Hermione corrected. "Ron wants Harry to be his Sugar Daddy."

"Not going to happen." Harry said.

"But, no. This isn't how it's supposed to happen." Ron complained loudly. Several students looked towards the staff table to see if anyone was going to intervene but the only professor present was Snape and he seemed to be enjoying the show.

"Listen Weasley…"

"No! This isn't how things are supposed to happen. I saved all of your lives! You owe me and I'm calling the debt due. Granger, Loony, neither of you are to come anywhere near Potter again! Harry you are going to be my best mate, got it?"

Several of the students gasped. After Ron had begun bragging that Harry owed him a life debt the more studious among them investigated in the library and found only the information Dumbledore had left for Hermione to stumble across. More than one had made plans to cozy up to Ron to influence his use of the debt. Now it was gone, used up in a childish fit of rage. Word began to spread from those who had investigated what a life debt was to those who hadn't that they would be forced to obey Ron's order to fulfil the debt.

Only nothing happened. Ron stood, a smug look on his face, arms crossed waiting for something to happen. Harry just smirked. "That's not going to work Weasley."

"But, I saved your lives."

"Come off it, Harry saved our lives. Not you." Hermione retorted.

"Yes I did!"

"No Weasley you didn't. I killed the troll, it was dead by the time Dumbledore got there, and guess what? You weren't with him then either. I kept waiting for someone to catch onto you changing the story every time you told it. I mean you didn't even pronounce most of your so called spells correctly." Harry noticed there were several sheepish looks about the rest of the students. He tried not to get annoyed at them. Maybe this would keep them from blindly following the next person to come along with an amazing story.

That was too much for Percy. Over the last few days he had almost been treated as a hero himself because Ron was his brother. For the first time in his years at Hogwarts he was popular, the center of attention. He delighted in telling stories of how he had taught Ron several of the spells he had used to deal with the troll. Now his fellow Gryffindor's were looking at him curiously, putting two and two together. "Potter! Detention and twenty points from Hufflepuff."

Snape smirked as the points drained from the Hufflepuff counter, though he was displeased to see that they were still in the lead. He had been taking even more points from them to try and curve their rising point count but someone kept undoing his work. He was sure of it, but the Headmaster refused to let him see the book where all points were recorded to discover who was helping the Badgers. His policy of non-interference was now working against Snape.

Harry turned to face Percy. A space had cleared around him at the Gryffindor table. "For what?"

"Calling my brother a liar."

"He is. I have my doubts he could duel a flobberworm unless he decided to eat it. Never mind a fully grown troll. It was a miracle we survived and I refuse to be punished for telling the truth." Harry stated flatly.

"Another twenty points from Hufflepuff." Percy glared hard at Harry expecting him to cave like other unruly first years. He was unnerved when Harry held his gaze.

"Over ruled!" Everyone turned towards the Hufflepuff table where their six prefects were standing. Amusingly it was Penelope Clearwater who had spoken.

"What?"

"You have overstepped your authority. We won't allow you to punish Harry unfairly."

Snape decided it was time to step in. "I agree with Mr. Weasley. The punishment stands."

Any remaining support Percy might have had in Gryffindor disappeared in that moment. Not that Percy seemed to realize that. "Thank you Professor Snape."

Harry raised his hand to halt to protests from the Hufflepuff table. "It won't do any good to debate. I'll just appeal the decision to Professors Sprout and McGonagall."

Snape almost smirked. There was no way Dumbledore would let his punishment be overturned, and best of all that upstart Weasley would take most of the heat from the punishment since he was the one who assigned it. He was tempted to stop Potter and his whores when they turned to leave but the thought of them going hungry that night filled him with a gentle warmth.

0-O-0

After checking the map to make sure they were alone Harry, Hermione and Luna made their way to the Room of Requirements and began to catch up with everything that had happened since Halloween that they hadn't put into their letters.

Hermione sat back and sighed. "I still haven't figured out the best way to free Sirius."

"You will. If it was simple we'd have figured it out already." Luna assured her.

"We have faith in you Hermione. But if you're looking for a break I did manage to figure out who the girls were that kidnapped both of you." Harry said.

"Who?"

"How?"

"Was one of them Cho?"

"Surprisingly no; a Hufflepuff sixth year, two Ravenclaw fifths and a Gryffindor sixth. Can't remember much about any of them. As for how I've been scanning surface thoughts with my wand hidden up my sleeve." While they all had excellent mental defenses their offensive capabilities weren't nearly as developed. Even to read surface thoughts they all needed their wands.

The major disadvantage to their skill was that if a person wasn't thinking about a piece of information they couldn't read it without being to obvious. Which was why Harry was still looking for whoever tampered with their potion. The best he had found so far was a general smugness from half of Slytherin.

"So have you come up with any ideas about what to do to them?"

"I think I've figured out an appropriate punishment. Do you remember the big book of scary legends Luna got a couple of years ago?"

Hermione suppressed a shiver. That was one of the few books she would gladly have never read, written before the magic muggle war it detailed the scariest urban legends the author could find from around the world. After Luna had gotten it they all jumped at shadows for days. But they also figured out some very creative wards to add to Potter Manor. "Which one?"

"Kuchisake. With a few changes. Hermione can you brew that potion they were going to use on you?"

"In just a few hours." Hermione replied.

"Good, Luna how would you like to help my make another puppet?"

"Sock?"

"Nope. More like the one you released into Diagon Alley. By the way did you know that thing is still in the paper?"

0-O-0

After they had worked out their plan for the girls they went to the kitchens for a late dinner before heading to Professor Sprout's office to try and have Percy overturned. She agreed that he had no grounds to punish Harry but because Snape had indorsed the punishment only Dumbledore could overturn it. None of them held out much hope there but they obediently followed their head of house to the Headmasters office.

Dumbledore was seated behind his desk when they entered; he listened as Professor Sprout explained about the incident. The three students already knew it was a lost cause by the small smile of Dumbledore's face. "I see, while I can understand Harry being upset by young Ronald I must agree with the punishment handed down. The point deduction will stand and Harry you will serve a detention tomorrow night with Professor Snape."

"And what about Ron?" Hermione asked hotly.

"He will suffer the same loss of points and serve a detention with me tomorrow evening." That should appease Severus, twice the point loss and a detention with Harry. He just needed to make sure his resident potions master saved the worst until after Harry's case was made public.

Professor Sprout was in no way satisfied, and after dropping her badgers off at the common room, it was after curfew for first years, she headed straight to McGonagall's office. Half an hour later she left even more frustrated. Minerva had actually defended Mr. Wesley's actions as protecting his brother.

0-O-0

The next day when Percy arrived for Herbology he felt a cold shiver pass down his spine. It only became worse when Professor Sprout asked for volunteers.

0-O-0

Snape stood waiting for Potter to arrive for his detention. Dumbledore had forbid him from using any of the harsher methods he had devised though, at least until after the world believed the brat was nothing but a liar. Still he thought that night's detention would be worth it. Potter would be cleaning cauldrons with powdered shark skin, which not only happened to be a harsh cleaner but was also on the caustic side. By the time he was finished his hands would be so raw he wouldn't even be able to hold a quill. Which would give him cause to assign more detentions. And to make sure he didn't try and go see Madam Pomfrey afterwards Flitch would be waiting to 'catch' Potter out after curfew.

0-O-0

A pile of cauldrons waited on a work table when Harry stepped into the potions classroom. Caked in the remains of a potion that Harry would bet could easily have been vanished. Snape stood behind them smiling. "Ah Potter. Right on time. This evening your punishment will be to clean these cauldrons so we don't have any more _accidents_. You will not be able to use magic."

Harry hid a smirk. "That's fine, I never used magic when my relatives had me clean."

Snape's eye twitched. "Excellent then I expect you know what to do. Well don't just stand there, begin!"

The heavy bag of powdered shark skin sat next to an old brush on the table. Harry knew what it would do to exposed skin. "I don't suppose you have a pair of dragon hide gloves I can borrow?"

"No."

"May I go get my own?"

"And skip your detention? No. Now no more delays get to work." Snape ordered.

With a sigh Harry got to work. The powdered shark skin would be painful but he had been through worse. If only they didn't need Snape for his dark mark. Still there had to be something they could do against him. The plans to deal with those girls were underway; he had spoken to the twins earlier that day about Ron's punishment. They had whole heartedly agreed to help after the stunt their brothers had pulled in the great hall. Snape though, their current prank was working but it was only meant to annoy him a bit. He needed something else, something embarrassing but that wouldn't endanger his position at Hogwarts where they had easy access to him.

The next few hours were spent scrubbing cauldrons and plotting.

0-O-0

Dumbledore walked across his office as he wondered just how stupid the boy seated before his desk was. "Ronald, what possessed you to do it? You knew the life debt was not real."

"You said he was supposed to be my best mate but as soon as those two showed back up he just ignored me! How's that being a best mate? Besides I figured you'd have done something so it'd still have worked." Ron reached forward and grabbed another handful of lemon drops to stuff in his mouth. His grimy hands still filthy from dinner.

Dumbledore was glad he had placed out the non-laced candies, otherwise Ronald might have suffered an overdose of calming drought. "And how would I have accomplished that? If it was within my power we would not have needed to go to such lengths in the first place. You were supposed to use the life debt to befriend them all, and slowly drive Harry away from the girls. Instead you attempted to order them apart with a life debt that never existed, and in the middle of dinner no less! Do you realize the damage you have caused?"

"Not really, but how bad can it be?" Ron spit tiny pieces of candy from his mouth as he spoke.

Perhaps he should recommend that Molly take Ronald to a mind healer, there had to be something wrong. He was the same age, about, as Harry. Yet Harry acted more of an adult in most circumstances while Ronald was a whinny child. Well the Weasleys were a very old pureblood family. Ronald might simple be an example of, what did the muggles call it? Inbreeding. And as if his actions were not enough Percy had gotten involved as well. Now that boy had lost all respect within Gryffindor and that was making it all but impossible to perform his prefect duties. "Return to your house Ronald."

"You got it." Ron jumped up from his chair, grabbed another handful of lemon drops and cheerfully left the Headmasters office.

0-O-0

Stepping out of the potion classroom Harry was surprised when Luna's disembodied voice spoke near his ear, he barely caught the faint shimmer that revealed she was under a disillusionment charm. "What happened to your hands?"

Gentle hands lifted Harry's arms up for a closer inspection; the skin on his hands was raw and red. It had already begun to crack between his fingers. "Powdered shark skin, no gloves. I was just going to see Madam Pomfrey. What are you doing down here?"

"We were watching the map and noticed Flitch hanging around. Hermione volunteered to distract him." Luna said, still disillusioned she walked beside Harry towards the hospital wing. "I think she's still upset about Mrs. Norris trying to bully Crookshanks."

"Of course she is. We've all been bullied and she not about to let Crookshanks go through that."

Since it would have been difficult to explain her presence Luna waited outside while Harry went in to see Madam Pomfrey. The healer was still awake taking inventory of her potions when Harry walked in. "Mr. Potter, a bit late for a stroll isn't it. Merlin what has happened to your hands?"

As she rushed over Harry explained. "Professor Snape had me cleaning cauldrons with something called powdered shark skin and wouldn't let me wear gloves."

The healer huffed and went back to the potion cabinet. She took out a large bowl and several potions. She poured them into the bowl. "Completely submerge your hands; this will draw out any of the powder that is still present and neutralize it."

Harry did as instructed. After several minutes he withdrew his hands and Madam Pomfrey wrapped them in bandages soaked in another potion. "Take those off before breakfast; your hands should be fine by then. If they aren't come see me again."

"Thank you." Harry said as he stepped out of the hospital wing. Hermione and Luna were waiting for him, still disillusioned. Together they walked back to the Hufflepuff common room, while in hushed voices Harry filled them in on his idea.

0-O-0

The next morning Harry's hands were healed, if still a bit pink. Together the tired trio made their way down for breakfast. They had just sat down when an invisible Crookshanks pawed at Hermione's feet. "_I did what you requested."_

"Good." Hermione had come up with the idea of using Crookshanks to distract Snape on his way to breakfast. With a little luck Snape would assume that he had been cursed then.

Right on time Snape strolled into the great hall, his robe flaring behind him. All conversation stopped. Instead of his normal black Snape's robes were bright red with gold trim. The Gryffindor house crest proudly displayed on his beck under the words. '_Go Lion's!_'

Not that Snape knew any of this. It had taken a good deal of time from the night before to transfigure the robes and add the selective notice-me-not charms to it. A little something the twins had come up with last time around. To Snape the robes looked completely normal. Crookshank's distraction earlier was to give Snape a time where he could have been cursed, to help keep suspicion from Harry. Which was also one of the reasons they choose to go with Gryffindor colors.

Students and professors alike watched stunned as Snape made his way to the head table. McGonagall was the first one to break from her stupor. "Severus, while I thank you for the support I don't believe it is entirely apparate as you are the head of Slytherin."

"What are you on about?" Snape asked, a half buttered scone in his hand.

"Your robes dear boy." There it was, the charms broke as soon as someone pointed out what they were hiding.

"What of my robes?" Snape looked down. Then jumped out of his seat. "WHO DID THIS?"

Snape pointed his wand at himself and attempted to remove the transfiguration. Only a small strip of his robes returned to their natural black color, the rest remained bright red. They could have locked the spell but between the professors that wouldn't have lasted long. Instead they had done the robes in small strips, transfiguring each individually. One reason it had taken so long to accomplish. Well that and each of them had been thinking of a slightly different red when they started.

Several more attempts to return his robes to normal and several more strips of black Snape stormed out of the great hall. He knew Potter had something to do with his robes. Obviously he hadn't done the actual spell work, no Snape's decision to view Potter as a horrible student meant he couldn't have. But he knew Potter was involved. He could have taken points but someone would have just returned them and more later as they always did. He'd find a way to deal with Potter, just as he had dealt with James.

0-O-0

The rest of November passed normally. Snape's mood improved when Slytherin beat Gryffindor in their quidditch match with a record victory. The lions had found a fifth year to play seeker, unfortunately he could barely fly.

Harry, Hermione and Luna had disguised themselves and popped over to Diagon Alley to pick up the supplies they'd need to deal with the girls. While there they noticed several wanted posters for the wooden puppet Luna had accidently created plastered along the store fronts. Luna ducked her head as they walked, embarrassed.

It was three days after the Gryffindor Slytherin quidditch match that they were finally ready. They waited until the early hours of the morning when everyone was sure to be asleep before they got to work.

"You're sure that charm you cast on your father will work Luna?"

"Yes, anything else that might happen at Hogwarts that would cause him or your parents to want to remove us will be forgotten unless directly mentioned by someone else." Luna had cast the charm on her father when he brought them back to Hogwarts as a precaution.

0-O-0

Lisa Pintrip had not been sleeping well since Halloween. She couldn't believe she and the others had actually been talked into attacking those first years. None of them could even remember whose idea it was. Worse though was that Potter knew, he had to. She had caught him staring at her several times, and not in the way she had been hoping for.

She had finally managed to fall asleep around midnight, hours later she was awoken by someone sitting on the edge of her bed. Panic coursed through her as she realized she couldn't move her body. Something she couldn't see pressed against her chest, restricting her breathing. Slowly she opened her eyes to find a girl watching her. Her pale skin was flawless, what little she could see between her silky black hair and Ravenclaw scarf. Despite that Lisa was sure the girl wasn't in Ravenclaw, she couldn't remember seeing her in all her years at Hogwarts.

The candles that always burned in the dorm room had gone out, the moon was dark. The only source of light was a black candle someone had set on Lisa's desk. It cast deep shadows around the room. Other things moves within the darkness.

The girl spoke, her voice muffled by the scarf. "Do you think I am beautiful?"

Lisa found that while her body was paralyzed she could speak. In a whisper she replied. "Yes."

The girl pulled down her scarf exposing the lower half of her mutilated face. Her mouth went from ear to ear. Filled with needle like teeth crammed together. Too many, when she closed her mouth they pierced her gums. Droplets of blood colored her lips. Speaking made it worse. "Do you still think I am beautiful?"

Lisa tried to scream but no sound escaped her throat. The girl leaned closer; her breath was like a rotting corpse. "That wasn't nice."

Slowly the girl drew a knife from her robes. She held it close to Lisa's face. Then pressed it lightly against her skin. The girl drew the knife from the corner of Lisa's mouth to her ear, then repeated the process on the other side. All the while Lisa was screaming in her mind. The cuts weren't bad; barely enough to break the skin but it felt like the girl had poured fire into them.

A grotesque, bloated, purple tongue slipped out of the girl's mouth. Specs of blood dotted it. The girl ran her tongue along one of the cuts. Lisa finally passed out from fear. One down, three to go.

0-O-0

(A/N: Well everyone wanted to see how they were going to deal with those girls, hope it meet with your expiations. Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to my Beta Katzztar and drscot for fixing my many mistakes.)


	16. Consequences

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Sixteen: Consequences

0-O-0

Dumbledore was a tired man. He had managed to shift most of the troll incident to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. But this, there was just no way to cover this up. Four girls had been attacked and left in the very bathroom Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood had been discovered in. Before he had even a chance to properly interview them, Poppy had called the DMLE and sent the girls to St. Mungo's. Now Madam Bones was sitting before his desk demanding answers he did not have or want to give. However there was a way to turn this to his favor and in-debt Harry to him.

"I am afraid there is little information I can give you Amelia. The four girls were all seen going to bed last night, their year mates can confirm they were all there when they went to sleep. Sometime in the early morning is our best guess for whatever happened." Dumbledore said.

"Were they friends? Did they share classes or clubs?"

"No clubs and no classes out of the ordinary ones. No one can remember any of them having much contact with the others." Not strictly true, the four girls had been seen together several times just before Halloween. He saw no need for inform her of that.

"And you are sure nothing else was found with them?"

"No. the girls were found lying on the floor in their nightgowns with their snapped wands next to them. No other items, no note." Dumbledore shook his head in mock sadness.

Madam Bones leaned back and sighed. "Is there anything else you can tell us that might help?"

"Not at the moment. I do have a suspicion as to who may have committed the attack but as they are a minor and there is no proof yet linking him to it I must withhold his name for the moment." Not that Dumbledore expected to find any proof linking Harry to the assault.

"If you think you know who was behind this I demand to know."

"Without some evidence I can not release his name to you. Rest assured as soon as I am able to secure the evidence I will inform you."

Madam Bones ground her teeth together. She hated the laws that limited what she was able to do at Hogwarts but the old minister had refused to repeal them and now Fudge was planning to expand them! Perhaps when the girls recovered from their shock they could provide the name of their attacker. "Very well. I'll be in touch."

Dumbledore sighed as Madam Bones stepped through the floo, things had become more difficult than he had ever thought they would. Voldemort was behaving better than Harry now, at least all he was doing was possessing that idiot. If he would just make his move. The traps were ludicrously easy while appearing complicated. Why wouldn't he just go after the stone?

A lemon drop brought the Headmaster from his thoughts. He needed to speak with Harry, but he needed to do so at a time where no one else would come and interfere. Perhaps while Harry was in potions, Sprout would be busy then with her own class. Yes that would work.

0-O-0

Harry Hermione and Luna sat in the Hufflepuff common room studying and listening to the rumors. The girls had been discovered that morning by a seventh year Ravenclaw. Classes had been canceled and everyone instructed to return to their common room where they were confined until further notice.

"A dozen girls, all dead and strung up like Christmas geese," "Had their heads cut off and stuffed with garlic," "A four way suicide pact," "Had their limbs cut off."

Most of the house was outraged that one of their own had been found in the bathroom but they had no idea who to be outraged with. Instead the majority of students spent the day giving their fellow Hufflepuff suspicious looks. The three time travelers were a bit disappointed.

0-O-0

During their next potions class a message arrived instructing Harry to go immediately to the Headmaster office. He wasn't overly surprised; they'd been expecting that Dumbledore would want to speak with him at some point. Professor Snape decided to escort him personally and lead Harry from the potions classroom while leaving the instruction, "Try not to kill anyone," to the class. Harry couldn't believe how irresponsible the man was.

As Harry followed Snape's brisk pace he tightened his mental shields. Both to keep out anyone who would try to read his mind and to deal with the rising panic of his younger self. There was no proof to connect any of them back to the attack except that the girls were found in the same bathroom. As far as Dumbledore knew they didn't know about the potion. They had checked the ward stone and made sure there was no magic that would record their actions or allow someone to trace the attack back to them. And as soon as they had finished Harry took their creepy little puppet and dropped her off at Potter Manor. They would incorporate her into their defenses at a later date, for the time being she still used to much magic.

When they entered the Headmaster's office Harry was glad that Snape took up a position to the side of the room rather than behind him. He couldn't trust the potion master where he couldn't see him. Dumbledore sat behind his desk looking down at Harry, a grave disappointed look on his face. "Harry, this is very serious."

"What is sir?" Harry used his mental shields to keep the smile from his face. If he really was a first year the oppressive atmosphere in the Headmaster office would have him crapping his pants. Now he was able to appreciate the subtle differences Dumbledore had made to the lighting to create the effect.

"You have heard what happened to the girls discovered in that bathroom. The same bathroom where Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood were found." It wasn't a question.

"I've heard the rumors, A dozen girls dead, several dismembered. Honestly the rumors are so outlandish I've just been ignoring them."

"So you have no knowledge of what happened?"

"No sir, why would I?"

"Well you were the one to find your friends in that same bathroom. Not to mention that the girls were attacked with the same potion found after the troll incident. I will be honest Harry, it looks very suspicious."

"What potion?"

"That is not important." Dumbledore mentally frowned, he expected Harry to be panicked at this point. His life with his relatives should have assured that he would be fearful of being blamed for anything. "What is important is that the DMLE is investigating and you will be in a great deal of trouble. I will of course do anything I can to protect you, but I need you to tell me anything you can that may help."

"Alright, I. Am. Innocent. There that should be all that you need."

Dumbledore didn't hide his frown this time. Why did Harry refuse to act as he planned? Perhaps he should have cut his losses as he had planned and stepped back. But the opportunities had been too great to pass up. "I am afraid I will need more than your word to help you Harry."

"Wrong, what you need is proof that I did something wrong first. Since you have none I will be taking my leave." Harry stood and walked towards the door.

"Potter! Return this instant! You will show the Headmaster proper…"

"That is enough Severus." Dumbledore waited until the door closed before he continued. "This was always a gamble, one I have not completely lost. Harry is far harder to control then I had expected. However I believe I saw a flicker of fear. He only needs to see that he is not as well supported as he believes. I will have him under control by the end of the year."

"You will forgive me if I do not believe you."

"Of course." Dumbledore said absently. He needed to send a letter to Rita Skeeter, she had made a name for herself in the Death Eater trials and enjoyed slandering anyone she could.

0-O-0

"So Dumbledore actually tried to convince you that you are the main suspect in the attacks?" Hermione asked. They were seated in a corner of the Hufflepuff common room under several privacy charms. In the center of the room several upper years were working of a set of wards to place around all of the dorm rooms incase another attack was coming.

"Yup. To be fair it would have worked last time. I'd have been so worried about getting in trouble with the DMLE I'd have spilled anything I knew to him." Harry said as he continued to rub Lunas feet. He knew not to bet against her or Hermione yet somehow they kept convincing him to. At least these forfeits weren't as bad as some of them.

Luna chewed on her bottom lip. "Are we sure they don't have anything to link us back to the attack?"

"Positive. Our puppet is gone and any spells we cast were done with the wands we took from the manor. No way to tie us back to any of it. He was just grasping at straws." Harry pulled the blonde against him and rubber her back.

"You know Harry, if you really want to take the piss out of Dumbledore, you could always write to Madam Bones for legal advice." Hermione suggested.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "That's a great idea, let's write it now and see if Susan will send it along for us."

As they got up Hermione removed the privacy charms around them. Susan was sitting with Hannah and several of the older girls. Different papers spread out on the table before them. "Susan, can we talk with you for a moment?"

"Sure Hermione." Susan stood and followed them towards a less crowded section of the common room. "I don't like the way all of you look, what's wrong?"

Harry started. "Dumbledore, he called me to his office a little while ago and said I was the main suspect for those girls who were attacked, as well as the attack on Hermione and Luna."

"Which is complete rubbish, if it wasn't for Harry that troll could have killed us. And since we know there were multiple girls attacked and only one is missing from Hufflepuff, Harry would have needed to be able to enter multiple dormitories." Hermione said.

"Not to mention if Harry knew how to get into the girls rooms the first one he'd visit would be ours." Luna added.

Susan went red at the implications of what the blonde Hufflepuff had just said. "I agree, there's no way you'd be behind these attacks Harry. What can I do to help?"

"We want to send your aunt a letter asking for legal advice and we hoped we could attach it to one of your letters. I don't trust the Headmaster not to try and read my mail." Harry explained.

"Of course, I have a letter I've almost finished I was going to send before curfew."

"Perfect."

0-O-0

Amelia was surprised the next morning when just after she arrived at the ministry a letter came in from Susan. She ripped it open; Susan knew to address letters to their home unless it was urgent. Susan's letter was not, but the second letter that fell from her niece's explained why Susan had sent it straight to her.

The letter, from Susan's housemate Harry Potter painted a dark picture. When Albus had said he had a suspect she never though he was talking about the Boy-Who-Lived! The letter read just as she'd expect one to from a frightened eleven year old. Apparently after his talk with Dumbledore Harry had asked some of the older students about wizarding laws and was now terrified he'd somehow end up in Azkaban. He was practically begging her for help.

A knock on her door distracted Amelia. "Come in."

Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror on the fast track for her job someday, stepped in with a pile of parchment. "The healers were finally able to stabilize the girls enough for us to interview them, can't say I blame them for going into shock after what they went though."

"Tell me we know who attacked them." And please don't let it be Potter.

"Not who, what. I think."

"Explain."

"I've never seen anything like it. I've never heard of anything like it either. All four girls had the same experience; they woke up in the early morning hours, all the lights in their dormitories were out except for a candle made of black wax. They were unable to move, most likely under some kind of body bind. There was a figure sitting on their bed next to them. Here's the first divergent between them. It's the same figure, a girl, flawless skin, black hair, face mostly hidden behind a house scarf, but in each case the scarf belonged to the house the girl was in."

"So none of them saw her face." Amelia said.

"Oh they did, which accounts for some of their shock. In each case the figure spoke and asked the girl if they thought she was beautiful. The girls were obviously frightened and responded that yes they thought the figure was beautiful." Shacklebolt stopped and shivered, they had needed to call in a mind healer to remove a copy of the memory for the investigation and do what they could to dull the memory for the girls. He'd then viewed the memories in an old pensive left to the magical hospital almost a century before. He was going to be having nightmares about that thing.

"And then what happened?" Amelia asked, becoming impatient with her investigator.

"Sorry ma'am. The figure, thing pulled down her scarf to show a deformed mouth. It went from ear to ear and was filled with needle like teeth. It was definitely the same thing in all of their memories. The thing then asked if they still thought she was beautiful. Three tried to scream at that point. The figure replied that they weren't nice and proceeded to cut them. We saw the results of that."

"You said three tried, what about the fourth?"

"Well she kept her wit's somewhat and replied that yes the figure was still beautiful. The thing thanked her and as a _reward_ said it would make her just as beautiful. Same cuts on that girl. The knife used to inflict the wounds was a standard potions knife. After the wounds were made the thing licked each of the girls wounds and they passed out. Either the knife or the things tongue was coated in a scarring potion that is resisting treatment."

Amelia leaned back in her chair. "So they'll have those scars for the rest of their lives."

"No ma'am. One of the healers is also a potion master and recognized the potion used. It's temporary. His best guess is that it will break down sometime in July and allow for treatment then." Shacklebolt pulled out the parchment detailing the potion and passed it to his boss. "Unfortunately none of the ingredients will be of much use in tracking down whatever that thing was."

"You keep calling the figure a thing. I realized it may have looked disturbing but that's no reason to not be a professional." Amelia chastised her auror.

"Sorry but you watch those memories and see if you don't do that same thing."

"I will, call down to the DoM and borrow us a pensive." The DMLE's pensive had disappeared just over a decade before and the ministry had refused to replace them saying they were unnecessary.

0-O-0

An hour later Amelia stepped out of the last memory doing her best to hide her reaction to that thing. The first memory had actually frightened her; the figure awoke some primal fear in her. By the last memory she had regained enough control to take in the figures details. "Contact the American ministry. Back in the seventies they had a ring of wizards that used self-transfiguration to scare muggles."

"You think _that_ was self-transfigurations?" It was possible, but he couldn't imagine someone willing to turn themselves into that thing.

"Either that or we have some kind of magical construct running around."

"My galleons are on a construct."

"Just get whatever you can from the American Ministry. I need to go talk with Dumbledore."

0-O-0

"Good afternoon Amelia. Have you learned anything new about that assault?" Dumbledore asked in his grandfatherly voice from behind his raised desk.

"Yes, we now have a face to put with the attacks. But first I'd like to ask why you told Mr. Potter he was the main suspect in this assault?" Amelia wanted to know that the Headmaster wasn't just using his position to frighten children.

"Where did you hear that?" The grandfatherly voice was gone, replaced by curiosity and a hint of worry.

"Mr. Potter wrote to me asking for legal advice. He's terrified that he's going to be sent to Azkaban." Madam Bones replied evenly.

Dumbledore leaned back, deep in thought. So Harry had only put on a brave face? Yes it made sense. He would have learned to hide his emotions at his relatives; it was a common enough mechanism to deal with that type of treatment. It gave him confidence that Harry was not as far out of his control as he had feared. "I see, I fear Mr. Potter has mislead you my dear. It is true that I spoke with him about the attack. I pointed out it was a bit of a coincidence that he found his friends in the same bathroom the attacked girls were found in. Here I believe this will better explain things."

Amelia took the offered stack of parchment and flipped through it. The report detailed incidents with Mr. Potter from his muggle school. The picture they painted was not pleasant. Apparently he was a known liar who was prone to making up stories for attention. The reports listed him as clumsy and lazy, in fact, there was hardly a good word about him at all.

"As you can see the muggle mind healers blame his behavior on a fear of rejection. Something to do with his parents dying when he was just a child." Dumbledore said.

"I see. How does this relate to the attacks?"

"I was merely considering the possibility that he was behind the attacks as a way to draw more attention to himself. After all if his two best friends were injured it would certainly garnish him sympathy."

"Well I can assure you that he was not the one behind the attacks. You have a pensive I believe?" Amelia knew he did, she'd seen it during her last visit, hastily shoved into a glass case.

"Yes." Dumbledore answered cautiously.

"Then I think we should view these memories taken from the girls who were attacked."

0-O-0

After the memory ended Dumbledore returned to his desk. The twinkle, ever preset in his eyes, had dimmed. "That was, disturbing."

"Indeed. At the moment our best guess is that it is some kind of self-transfiguration." Madam Bones said.

"Such a transfiguration would be well beyond N.E.W.T. level. While I am sure of several people who could perform such a feat I am at a loss for why they would perpetrate the attack. And you are sure that this is a true memory?" Dumbledore hoped the memory had been fabricated somehow, there were only two people in Hogwarts with the level of skill in transfiguration needed to preform something like the figure seen in the memory, himself and Professor McGonagall. He did not need the DMLE investigating either him or his faculty.

"Are you accusing one of my aurors of providing memory evidence without first checking its validity?"

"No, no I was merely hoping that the memory was incorrect. While someone altering the memories of those young ladies would be disturbing the memory itself is more so."

"Yes, it means someone powerful enough to transfigure themselves or someone else into that thing can get into and out of the dorms without being caught. Either that or someone has created a deranged construct and let it go at the children." All things considered Madam Bones was already considering if she should pull her niece from Hogwarts.

The thought that someone besides himself had such unrestricted access to the school did not go down well with Dumbledore. Worse was that it pointed to a member of the staff. Could Voldemort be behind it? Dumbledore really didn't see why the spirit would attack those girls. If he still retained enough power for something like this the Headmaster was sure he'd turn it towards Harry. Why couldn't he make his move already? Dumbledore had been sure that he would have stolen the stone before Halloween.

The problem seemed to be Fluffy; that over grown flea basket was just too good at its job. Why had he even asked Hagrid to place one of the obstacles? At this rate Voldemort would wait until the end of the year before he went after the stone and sprung the real trap.

Madam Bones watched the Headmaster carefully. She didn't believe he was behind the attacks but that didn't mean she wouldn't love to have him answer a few questions under Veritaserum. If only to prove he wasn't above the law. But she'd need a lot more evidence before she'd be able to do that. Just having the ability to perform the magic wasn't considered enough to bring in a suspect, no matter how it might point to a single person. Curse Fudge and his loose politics.

Their meeting ended shortly after with Dumbledore promising to find new ways to secure the school against the figure.

0-O-0

When Madam Bones arrived back at her office she found a junior auror waiting for her. "Ma'am. We have some new news about those Hogwarts students who were attacked. They are convinced it was done in retaliation. Apparently on Halloween they kidnapped a Miss Granger and a Miss Lovegood with the intentions of using a scarring potion on them. They were jealous that those girls were so close to Mr. Potter. When they heard about the troll they left the girls in the bathroom and ran."

Any sympathy Madam Bones had felt for the girls evaporated. "They were going to use a scarring potion on two first years because they were jealous?!"

"Yes, however there is also a new problem. All of the girls have been obliviated. None of them can remember who suggested the plan and the actual night is spotty. The mind healers say the spell work is crude but strong."

"So we probably don't have whoever masterminded the attack. Are we sure the memories of them being attack are real?" Once you started dealing with memory charms things got tricky. With muggles it was easy to tell since the magic stood out against their normal memories to a trained eye. With witches and wizards the magic tended the blend in with their own.

"The mind healers rechecked and are still convinced those memories are real and have not been tampered with. They also said they will do what they can to recover the lost memories but they don't have much hope there."

Amelia dismissed the auror and began to think over the case. Unfortunately it was looking like revenge was the motive, which pointed the finger towards Harry Potter and his friends. There was no way he did it himself. The skills needed were beyond most students, let alone a first year. But could he have asked or hired someone to carry out the attack?

0-O-0

The next morning Harry Hermione and Luna were sitting at the Hufflepuff table finishing their breakfast when the Daily Prophet arrived. The quiet gasps and murmurs were enough to tell Harry that whatever their lead story was it was probably about him. The looks and pointing also tipped him off. Hermione spread her own copy out on the table so they could all read it.

_**The Boy-Who-Lied**_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_We regret to inform our loyal readers that the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who saved us from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, may not be the great hero we were all expecting to once again grace our world. On his first night at Hogwarts Mr. Potter apparently made disturbing claims of neglect and abuse against his muggle guardians. An aunt and uncle, names withheld for their protection, who have lovingly cared for him since that faithful night a decade ago. _

_Of course the matter was reported to the Ministry and they immediately dispatched an investigator. What he found was shocking, and possibly more disturbing than the reported neglect. It appears that Mr. Potter has a long history of fabricating stories to gain sympathy and attention. A large file of these supposed reports was located at his primary school, muggle children needing the extra schooling often begin several years before magic raised children, these reports detailed several dozen cases where Mr. Potter lied about an injury or action by his family. _

_The following was copied from the numerous reports on Mr. Potter._

"_As he was leaving class yesterday, the seventh, he ran into the door. The next day he began telling people he was beaten by his cousin."_

"_Mr. Potter was walking on top of a wall when he slipped and fell into a thick bush. Two days later he tried to pass off the scratches from the bush as proof that his uncle was whipping him."_

Several more supposed incidents were reported in the article. Whispers filled the great hall as students tried to discreetly point towards Harry. He took a quick look around and wasn't surprised to see most people seemed to believe the article. Predictably Hermione and Luna were outraged and it fell to him to keep them in check. He put an arm around each of their waists, more to keep them seated than anything else.

"Harry, how can you not be upset by this?" Hermione asked in a harsh whisper.

"I am, but I was expecting it. Just not this soon. They've really started early this time. Not that it matters though. The blood wards will fail before Christmas so Dumbledore will never send me back there. Hopefully we'll have Sirius free by summer and I can live with him. Otherwise I'll just hide out in one of your attics or something." Harry reassured them. Of course he'd actually go to Potter Manor but that didn't sound as humorous. "Now the real question is what do we do about Skeeter and this pack of lies?"

"We could use Ash." Luna suggested.

Before they had come back they had invented the character of Ash, they planned to use him where they could to hide their own knowledge. He would appear and claim to be a former member of the Order of the Phoenix; he would be their main tool against Dumbledore. Spreading all the information the Headmaster wanted to keep quiet. He would be so busy looking for someone who didn't exist that their own movements would be unhampered.

"I think that's a great idea. I can go have a little talk with Miss Skeeter."

0-O-0

By that evening the three time travelers were more than ready to shove a certain beetle up Dumbledore's arse and then use the animagus reversal spell. Somehow Dumbledore had started the rumor that Harry was responsible for Hermione and Luna almost getting killed by a troll. Girls had been giving him disgusted looks all day.

After curfew they once again snuck to the Room of Requirements and Harry pulled on a cloak charmed to disguise him, from his height and build to his voice. They'd perfected the charms to allow them to go out without drawing the attention of Death Eaters.

A quick kiss from each girl and one ride later, curtesy of Hedwig, and Ash stood in Rita Skeeter's office behind the shocked woman.

0-O-0

Rita Skeeter was not a nice woman, she knew this and it didn't bother her. She loved reporting, well maybe not the reporting but the digging up and exposing of peoples secrets, she loved to watch the high and mighty topple over. She had soon discovered that the nastier she was the better her sales. Over the years she'd perfected the art of how to lead a reader to what she wanted them to think without them noticing. In fact she could easily say she felt as if she controlled the opinion of the wizarding word, or at least all those residing in their little piece of it. Internationally she wasn't viewed as more than a gossip columnist and that irked her greatly.

She'd also had just about everything you could think of thrown at her over the last decade from the killing curse to unstable potions. Rita liked to think she was unflappable. When a mysterious cloaked man appeared in her office in a flash of flames she would admit to being a bit startled. Falling out of her chair was completely intentional as far as she was concerned. "This is a closed office. I know you don't have an appointment."

"No place is closed to me." The figures voice shifted as he spoke. Rita recognized the voice masking charm, some of her informants used it to hide who they were, not that she didn't find out anyways. They always had more to stell then what they said. The subtle gesture towards the purple phoenix perched on his shoulder wasn't lost on her either.

"Right, well it's still rude."

"So are the lies you print. Which is why I am here, to offer you a deal." The figure said as Rita climbed back onto her chair.

"I don't print lies." Rita defended herself.

"Semantics Miss Skeeter, you write to make people reach false conclusions. Such as with your recent article about Harry Potter."

"That was all true, I saw the documents myself."

"Allow me to present my offer before we continue. You stop printing negative articles about Potter and his friends. In return I will not reveal that you are an unregistered beetle animagus and this is how you got many of your stories. Since I realize that I would be taking away a potential gold mine in the negative articles you could write about him I will supply other stories for you. Things long hidden that are not even spoken of. In fact I will give you one for free regardless of whether or not to accept my offer. Those documents about Potter were faked."

"Impossible! I saw them!" Rita was outraged that whoever this was had come into her office and threatened her. She was also worried that he knew her secret. The question was could he prove it?

"They exist yes, but all were made in the last few months. You know that a memory charm on a muggle is easy to detect? Take a mind healer and examine Potter's former instructors. You will find the reported incidents have all been implanted."

If that was true, Rita's mind was going a mile and minute as the headlines came together. _Death Eaters try to discredit Potter._ It didn't really matter who had charmed the muggles memories it was a great story. She could see the reader's reactions as those who had already turned on Potter suddenly found that he was right. It could add thirty percent to her story sales. Still her curiosity was nagging at her. "Why do you care what I write about Potter and his friends?"

"Have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Rita shrugged. "In passing; it's a secret organization that opposed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Supposedly lead by Dumbledore."

"I was once a member but left when I found out that Dumbledore was willing to sacrifice us all to try and redeem Death Eaters. It almost cost me my life several times. That old coot plays things close to his chest. But there are a few important things to know. And if I find out you've printed what I am about to tell you there is no place you can hide from me. Voldemort isn't dead."

"That's, that's impossible. Everyone knows he died that night!" Rita couldn't help but shudder at the thought of that monster still being alive. The only reason she'd dared to slander so many Death Eaters was because they were disorganized without a leader. If he returned…

"Then where is the body? All that was found with young Potter was his mother's body and Voldemort's robes. But don't take my word for it. In the hall of prophecy lies a prophecy about Potter and Voldemort. Dumbledore heard it and knows it is still active but hasn't done anything about it. I only found out after Dumbledore thought I died. But if the prophecy is still active that means Voldemort will be back. And I know that it says only Potter can kill him. Call me crazy but I'd prefer that we didn't all piss him off while we wait for him to finish that bastard for good."

Rita didn't know what to think, she could get into the ministry easy enough, under the last minister the wards had fallen into neglect and Fudge didn't seem in a hurry to repair them. If this prophecy was real then she definitely wanted to stay on Potter's good side. The offer of other stories to make up for the ones she'd lose wasn't lost on her either. "Say I believe you, what would some of these other stories be?"

"Now I can't tell you that until after you've agreed, besides I've already given you one. Let's not be greedy." He reached up to stroke his companion's head. "I need an answer now. Or I will leave and spread the word about your animagus form."

"Carrot or the stick huh? Fine I agree." Rita realized the rest didn't really matter, if her secret got out she was finished, if not outright dead. She did have enemies after all.

"Good, then I just need you to sign this contract." The figure pulled the parchment from his pocket and set it on Rita's desk.

The reporter looked it over. It was straight forward. She could only report the truth in regards to Potter, a Miss Lovegood and a Miss Granger or their parents. She was a bit surprised it didn't say she could only report positively on them. "I take it the unnamed consequences wouldn't be pleasant?"

"No they wouldn't be, but nothing that couldn't be reversed."

"And why is that?" This contract was better than she expected and she was deeply suspicious of that.

"Easy. If it were permanent then you'd have no reason not to go all out against me, Potter and anyone else. By being reversible I feel I have safe guarded everyone to the best of my abilities." The figures voice reached a monotone as he spoke. Rita wondered if the figure was even a man. The cloak had some weird charms on it as well.

"Fine. Now if you'll excuse me I have some work to do." Rita signed the parchment and shoved it back towards the figure.

"A pleasure doing business with you Miss Skeeter. I'll be around soon with more for you to look into." The figure vanished in a pillar of fire.

Rita collapsed back into her chair. Maybe she'd see if the goblins had wards to stop phoenixes.

0-O-0

Dumbledore returned to his office very pleased with himself. The article had done its job and the students were already starting to turn on Harry. The rumors had done better than he had hoped. By the end of the week the other female students should have convinced Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood that Harry had been behind the attack. Both should be susceptible to such extreme peer pressure.

His meeting at the ministry had also been very productive and he had cemented the Dursleys as Harry's muggle guardians. Harry would have no choice but to return to them this summer, perhaps he'd pay them a visit come the next break and make sure they were properly dealing with the boy. A rescue by the Weasleys might be just the thing to finally place him his chosen family. From what he had heard Ginny was a firecracker. He could picture her rushing in to save her hero. Yes that would work nicely.

The Headmasters pleasant musings were interrupted by nearly every alarm in his office going off at once reporting a catastrophic failure of the blood wards at the Dursleys.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to my Beta Katzztar and drscot.)


	17. One cat, Two cat, Red cat, Blue cat

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Seventeen: One cat, Two cat, Red cat, Blue cat.

0-O-0

Number 4 Privet Drive had seen a run of bad luck over the recent months. Appliances, especially the refrigerator, broke with regularity. No electrician could locate the cause of the problem and Vernon had taken to blaming the cheap foreign models the stores sold now.

Petunia's garden was filled with dead weeds; no gardener within twenty miles would even try to take care of it anymore. Most suggested it be torn out and the earth salted.

The house had been tented and fumigated to deal with termites yet the wood of the house continued to rot and weaken. And now there was that incessant hum! Petunia sat in the kitchen, the hum that had been present since the house was fumigated still rang somewhere nearby. No one had been able to locate the source, no electrician could find a problem with the wires, and there was no air in the pipes. They were desperate.

A contactor had torn into the back kitchen wall which seemed to hold the source, they thought. The hum was one of those noises you could never quite figure out the location of. They had found nothing, yet the noise continued. They had to wear earmuffs to bed just to sleep.

Vernon had the telly turned up in his nightly attempt to drown out the noise. It didn't help much. Petunia took a sip of her evening tea when something changed. It took her several moments to realize it was the hum, it had stopped.

Petunia set down her tea and walked towards the new kitchen wall. Cautiously she pressed her ear against it, afraid that the noise was about to start again. It didn't, instead the ward stone finally gave way under its own magical force.

The explosion ripped up the garden, dirt and plants were thrown into several nearby yards. The magical concussive blast slammed into Number 4 and tore through the rebuilt kitchen wall. Petunia was thrown across the kitchen and into the sitting room by the force. The only thing that saved her from serious injury was her fat husband whom she crashed into, tipping over his recliner.

The magic expanded, electronics died as it passed. Anyone watching from above would have seen a circle of darkness spreading out from Number 4 as the unleashed magic overwhelmed the power grid. When it reached a nearby substation the result was like the fourth of July. Columns of sparks shot into the night sky.

Beyond the circle of darkness car alarms began to sound as the fading magic wasn't enough to fry their electronics but still strong enough to set them off. In London dozens of alarms were also going off as the power monitors reported a massive blackout.

At the Ministry of Magic the night staff was running around in a near panic. The grid of sensors used to pick up accidental magic by children had registered a massive burst of uncontrolled magic. It had whited out their sensors, now a huge chunk of area around Surrey was blank. The call went out for investigators, obliviators and aurors to report to the scene. Thankfully the sensors had fallen as the magic moved out so they could pinpoint the location it had originated from.

Outside Number 4 the streets were quiet, except for the noise caused by dozens of cats running around howling. Mrs. Figg was trying desperately to herd them back to her yard. Right after the magic explosion she had tried to contact Dumbledore but the floo was dead. She had given up when her cats began to flee the house. Perhaps the one upside was that the uncontrolled magic had changed their natural fur color to neon bright colors making them easy to spot. A bright green cat with orange stripes was hard to miss.

As people began to venture outside they discovered things were not right. Cars were the wrong colors, their tires melted to the pavement. A tree that was little more than a sapling that morning now looked ancient. Bushes were the wrong color, strange lights winked on and off along Private Drive. The streetlamps were what drew and held most people's attention though, they were twisted at impossible angles. Several remained on despite the lack of power to the area.

0-O-0

Madam Bones arrived with everyone she could muster to discover utter chaos. Brightly colored cats were running along the street, hiding under oddly colored bushes and around twisted street lamps. One of the aurors whistled at the sheer magnitude of the affected area. "I feel like I just stepped into a Dr. Sues, Suzy, whatever book."

"You know the drill; secure the area until magical reversal and the invisibility squads get here!" Madam Bones shouted. Most of the personnel spread out to locate the edge of the affected area and make sure word of what happened didn't get out. The rest followed Madam Bones towards number 4, the supposed source of whatever had happened.

They had expected to find many things. A slip of a woman lying on the fattest man any of them had seen was not one of them. They spread out to secure the house and look for the source of the magic, leaving just an auror and healer to watch after the woman and man. The auror looked them over while the healer cast charms on the couple. "So did they look like that before or did the magic disfigure them?"

"It appears this is just how they look."

"Poor bloke."

0-O-0

Dumbledore wasted valuable seconds examining the silver instruments tied to the blood wards around Number 4. Everything except the main monitoring charms were sounding the alarm. The main charms still showed the ward to be in good working order, even if it had never reached the levels Dumbledore had predicted. The only reason for only the secondary charms to be going off would be sabotage.

The main monitoring charms were within the ward stone itself and safely inside the heart of the blood wards. The secondary charms were located along the ward line and could theoretically be tampered with.

While Dumbledore wrestled with his indecision the alarm died. In fact all of the instruments failed at once. The Headmaster poked the instruments for a moment but they remained unresponsive. Quickly he made his way to the floo and summoned McGonagall and Snape. Whatever happened he would need assistance.

It was several long minutes before they arrived. "Minutes ago the wards surrounding Mr. Potter's residence failed. I do not know of the cause yet but I believe we can assume they were brought down by an external force. We will floo to an agent's home whom I have had watching Harry for several years. Form there we will assess the situation."

The professors nodded. Dumbledore threw a pinch of powder into the fire and called out Mrs. Figg's floo address. "Kitty House!"

The fire flared green for a moment before it returned to its normal color. Dumbledore tried again with the same results. "Fawkes!"

Much about phoenixes is unknown. Most people who have heard of them have heard that they can travel by fire, what few know is that they do not actually enjoy this method of travel. They much prefer to fly, even over the longest distances. Transporting people was even more annoying to them. While they were happy to help they needed to make the offer. Being ordered to transport someone was seen as incredible rude. Of course the only two in the Headmasters office who knew that were Hathfojd and Fawkes. Still the phoenix was bound to serve the school, and he did want to see Dumbledore's face when he figured out what happened to those wards he was so proud of.

A brief flap of his wings carried Fawkes to Dumbeldore's shoulder. McGonagall and Snape stepped close as Fawkes wings closed over their heads. Transporting multiple people by phoenixes was possible, in fact it was easy, they simply needed to be in contact with the phoenix somehow. A tail feather would do. Fakes however enjoyed forcing them to be uncomfortably close together.

They arrived in Mrs. Figgs living room to find several cats of astonishing colors trying desperately to get out. Their wish was answered when Dumbledore opened the door and they proceeded outside. A small part of the Headmaster's mind wondered what could have happened to the cats and if it could be duplicated with some of his robes, those colors were exquisite!

That same part of his mind could appreciate the sight of the street, with the twisted lamp posts and strangely colored plants. Why he had never seen a more inviting place. If this was what the muggles were getting up to now perhaps he should buy a house nearby.

Dumbledore shook his head and brought his focus back. Those episodes of his mind wondering were becoming a hindrance. The aurors and ministry personnel paid them no attention as they made their way towards Number 4. Fawkes had abandoned his shoulder to fly after a small blue kitten.

Madam Bones spotted them as soon as they stepped through the open door. Her tone left no doubt that she was not pleased to see the Headmaster. "Dumbledore, what are you doing here?"

"I had devices monitoring the wards are Mr. Potter's home. We rushed over when I was informed that the wards had fallen." Dumbledore replied cautiously. Nothing he said was a secret; he had already informed several people at the Ministry that he had installed the wards around Harry's home for his protection. It was only normal that he have a way of monitoring them for trouble. "Have you discovered what type of attack brought the wards down? And left such an obvious effect on the immediate area?"

"You set the wards around this house?" Madam Bones asked, just to clarify.

"Yes. They were exceedingly powerful."

"Oh we know, their collapse resulted in the damage you have seen. There was no attack, rather from what we were able to recover of the ward stone it appears you made a mistake when you set them. I'm afraid you are under arrest." Madam Bones was glad to finally have something on Dumbledore; she just wished it hadn't caused so much damage. The magic reversal squad would be busy for hours. They'd have to cast a wide area selective notice-me-not charm designed to hide anything out of the ordinary. It really was the only option with such a wide area altered.

"You can't do that!" McGonagall said in horror. She didn't understand how anyone could even think of arresting Albus.

"Actually I can, you see since he placed the wards and as it appears to be a mistake on his part that led to this incident he will be held responsible for it. Also we were briefly able to speak with the Dursleys." They had refused magical treatment and were being moved to a non-magical hospital. "They denied any knowledge of the wards that failed tonight."

"Come now Amelia surely there is no need for this. I was merely doing what I could to protect Harry."

"Benson, please take Dumbledore's wand and transport him to a holding cell."

"Yes ma'am. I am sorry sir." Benson said as he stepped forward.

"Of course. You are merely following orders." Dumbledore slipped a spare wand from his shelve and handed it to the auror. He always kept at least three wands aside from his true one for such occasions. So long as people still thought of him as a leader among the light they never checked for other wands, or well anything really.

"Minerva, Severus, if you could return to Hogwarts and insure things continue to run smoothly until my return I would be very appreciative." He could have fought the arrest but there wasn't a reason to. He could already tell there was no chance to save the wards, for them to have released enough uncontrolled magic to result in the changes they had seen; well there was just no hope. Fudge was sure to order his release within the hour and spending a few minutes in custody would make it appear he was cooperating.

Madam Bones didn't like the serene smile on Dumbledore face as he left but was distracted by the wide area notice-me-not charm being placed. Muggle emergency personnel would soon arrive; there was no way to keep them away from such a large area. They'd have to wait until the muggles were finished before they could begin to reverse everything. But at least they could speed up their investigation.

"Madam Bones, we found something." One of her aurors called as he walked in. Behind him came Rita Skeeter and a healer.

0-O-0

Rita was having an interesting day that didn't look like it would be ending soon. After her visit with Ash she had looked over the reports on Harry Potter again, picking out any information that could help her track down where Potter lived. She had already planned to figure it out later for follow up stories but the chance to uncover a plot against the boy-who-lived was too good to pass up. She had to shake her head at the wizarding world, they blotted out the name of Potter's school and its location but left names attached to statements. It only took her a few hours to narrow down the location to a few schools.

A quick trip to the schools, a few unlocking charms and she found the file on Harry James Potter, complete with home address. She loved bringing down the big shots of the world but the rush of doing a bit of detective work, and succeeding, was unmatched to her.

Convincing a healer that sometimes provided quotes for her articles to come with her and check some muggles for memory charms was harder. Still she managed after promising to write him very positively in the article. Their first stop was Mr. Potter's home to interview the neighbors and check them for charms. Tomorrow they'd hit the school and check his former teachers.

When they arrived Healer Drugless at first thought was that he must have damaged his brain somehow. The colors were all off and the streetlamps were twisted. Being born to a muggle mother and wizard father he was lucky enough to make it as a healer. He was read stories from both worlds and was sure he had stepped into some child's book.

Rita's own thoughts were that some brat had stolen his mother's wand and been allowed to run wild for a few hours. Before either of them could comprehend the strange place they found themselves in, an auror had taken them into custody and led them towards one of the houses. Rita didn't miss the sight of Dumbledore in restraints being port keyed away as they approached Number 4. Yes it was going to be a long night, but just maybe well worth it.

0-O-0

"Miss Skeeter, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Madam Bones asked dryly. The last thing she needed was this gossip hound sniffing around. "You seem to have arrived rather quickly to our little incident."

"Actually I have no idea what's going on here. We were investigating a few leads for a follow up piece on Mr. Potter. I don't suppose you'd care to share what happened?" Rita didn't need the odd colors out front to tell her there was another story here.

"Classified."

"Really? How about a little deal then. I tell you what we were investigating, I'm sure you'll find it interesting. If you do then you give me enough information on what happened here to write a story or two." Rita offered.

"I see no reason to accept your offer." Madam Bones snapped. She turned her attention to Drugless. "And who are you?"

"Healer Drugless at your service ma'am." He gave a stiff but polite bow.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to come and check several muggles for possible memory charms." Drugless had learned enough from Rita to dangle the information in front of Madam Bones.

Amelia sighed deeply. Legally she didn't have enough on Rita or Drugless to do more then give them a small fine. If they had information on possibly memory charmed muggles it would be better for her department to learn about it now than in the Daily Prophet. But it would have to be a big piece of information if she was going to give Rita anything about the ward collapse. Still better the devil you know. "Fine, get talking. If, that is _if, _your information is enough I will give you a few facts about what happened here. Enough for a short article."

The head of the D.M.L.E. would only describe Rita's smile as frightening. "That's fine dear. This evening an informant approached with me claiming that the files about Mr. Potter that were presented in the ministry's report were faked and his former instructors were memory charmed. Since it is late I decided to investigate some of the neighbors before checking the school staff tomorrow."

Her earlier thought was proved false, now Amelia wished she was only dealing with Rita. If it was true that the Harry Potter was being abused by his relatives and the Ministry didn't figure it out... Madam Bones knew the laws, but she also knew how to play the political game. "Miss Skeeter I would like to make a new deal with you. You hold off printing about this until my department has had a chance to investigate and I will provide you with exclusive information. Both on that investigation and what happened here."

Amelia might have despised Rita on a personal level but this was the only way to deal with her short of imprisoning her. If she was right and this got out it would be a disaster for everyone involved.

"Alright, so what happened here? I assume it had something to do with Mr. Potter since we are at his home." Rita took her first good look around the sitting room they were all gathered in. Aside from every window being broken it looked fairly normal.

"How do you know this is Mr. Potter's house? That information was never released." The expected answer of some confidential informant that would point towards a leak in the ministry never came.

"It might not have been stated in the reports but there was enough information to narrow down Mr. Potter's old school to half a dozen. After that it was easy to find his records, which do list his address." Rita replied with a smile. Oh she loved the look on Madam Bones face.

Making a note to look into exactly what information was available in those reports Madam Bones turned to one of the remaining aurors. "Franklin, take Drugless and another healer to check the memories of Mr. Potter's former teachers as well as the neighbors mentioned in the report."

"Yes ma'am."

"So what happened here?" Rita asked. She had a normal quill out, the last time she'd tried to use a quick quotes quill around the head of the DMLE it had burst into flames, at the tip of Amelia's wand.

Reluctantly she began to fill Rita in on that night's excitement. "Sometime after Mr. Potter was left in his relatives care Dumbledore erected powerful wards on the property. However he never informed the proper owners. Somewhere in the wards he made a mistake which lead to a buildup of magic over a period of time that finally popped the ward. You've seen the results outside."

"So the headmaster placed illegal wards. Are you sure they fell because of a mistake he made?" Rita's quill scratched on the parchment.

"The ward stone was burned out and shattered by the explosion. We summoned as many pieces as we could. It appears to be missing the rune cluster that limits the buildup of magic in the charging and storage clusters. Either Dumbledore made a mistake when he set the wards or someone bypassed the wards and altered the stone to cause a collapse, but from what we were able to recover the buildup took months if not longer." Madam Bones took Rita outside and showed her the remains of the ward stone.

"And what cover story will you be using?"

"According to the neighbors this house has had a bug problem recently. The explosion was the result of several bug bombs and an exposed pie-let light. The explosion damaged an outdated part of the power grid and caused the black out. Everything else will soon be repaired." Madam Bones said. It was a cover story used in the United States several times.

They continued their discussion until Franklin returned. "Miss Skeeter was correct ma'am. All of the neighbors we examined tested positive for memory charms. We've only check three but it's the same with all of them."

"Get a mind healer from St. Mongo's. I want to know what memories have been altered." Amelia removed her monocle and polished it. This night kept getting worse and worse.

"Yes Ma'am."

Rita's quill never stopped moving. "So has anyone checked the cupboard under the stairs yet?"

0-O-0

McGonagall obeyed the Headmasters orders and kept Hogwarts running like normal. Since she had not been told to inform Mr. Potter about the incident she remained quiet the next morning at breakfast.

0-O-0

Dumbledore was displeased it took over a day for him to be released. Fudge had finally intervened on his behalf and Madam Bones had been forced to let him go. He had returned to Hogwarts just in time for breakfast. Thankfully his absence the day before hadn't been noticed by most. His good mood vanished when the paper was delivered.

**Plot against the Boy-Who-Lived**

**By Rita Skeeter**

**My dear readers I must apologize. Previously I reported about the supposed lies told by Harry Potter regarding his treatment at the hands of his relatives. According to reports provided by the Ministry Mr. Potter was a chronic liar who only sought attention with outrageous stories. This now appears to be false. An incident two days ago brought most of the on duty aurors as well as obliviators and magical cataclysm response agents to a small neighborhood, while there, evidence was discovered that Mr. Potter was speaking truthfully about the abuse he suffered by his relatives. **

**I was already investigating on a tip I received from a former associate of Albus Dumbledore's who claimed the reports against Mr. Potter had been faked. I realized if this was true it could have an unprecedented effect on the Ministry and immediately took the information to Madam Bones. While we have had our differences she immediately sent an auror and healers, (one my personal friend Healer Drugless) to investigate the claim. It brings me no pleasure to inform you, my readers, that all of those who made reports about Mr. Potter lying were found to have extensive memory charms placed upon them. I also personally saw the cupboard where Mr. Potter was forced to spend many years, still furnished with a thin mattress. I can honestly say I have seen the inside of cells on Azkaban Island that were more inhabitable.**

**The original investigator was also found to have had his memory heavily charmed and has been ordered to take a leave of absence until such time as he is deemed recovered. The question now is who would have gained from Mr. Potter remaining with his muggle guardians and were they behind the catastrophic collapse of the wards protecting Mr. Potter. (For more on the ward failure see page 3.)**

Dumbledore crumbled the paper. The one good thing was that he had memory charmed the investigator so no one could trace it back to him. But there was virtually no way to get Potter back under the Dursleys control. Not that there was much point in sending him back now.

The next few weeks would need to be devoted to damage control. How had things gone so wrong? And who was this former associate Miss Skeeter wrote of? Perhaps he would need to visit the reporter soon.

0-O-0

"So the wards fell, I guess that explains where Dumbledore was yesterday." Hermione said after finishing the article.

"Well everyone knows the truth now, and Madam Bones always seemed fair. Hopefully this will put any plans Dumbledore has to send me back there in the rubbish pile. And maybe get all those girls to stop glaring at me and trying to pull the two of you away from me in the halls." Harry replied. He was thrilled with what happened but had to keep his mental shield pulled tight to deal with the stress of everyone knowing how he was raised. It was easier than when they had first found out but not by much.

Up and down the Hufflepuff table, as well as at the other tables in the great hall students were trying to take discreet looks at Harry as they thought about their actions towards him over the last few days.

0-O-0

That evening they sat on one of the overstuffed couches in the Hufflepuff common room hidden behind several privacy charms so as to avoid the awkward and sheepish looks of their housemates. Luna was stretched out across Harry and Hermione's lap. Harry ran his fingers through her hair, absently massaging her scalp, a book on advanced runes held in his other hand.

Suddenly Hermione jumped up, Luna rolled off their laps and landed heavily on the floor. "Ow."

Harry helped Luna back up. "Hermione?"

"I've been so stupid!"

"Because you knocked me to the ground? Yes, yes you were." Luna said as she rubbed her backside. Maybe she could convince Harry to rub it better later. Or at least tease him about it.

"No about Sirius. We've been trying to come up with some elaborate plan. What if we just use Ash to drop Pettigrew off in Madam Bone's office?"

"Because if she doesn't help we've lost our only proof?" Harry said.

"That's the case in just about anything we try. Even revealing him in the great hall might not work. And if it doesn't we can just move onto plan B." Plan B was to spring Sirius from Azkaban on their own. He would still be a fugitive but he'd be relatively free.

"Do you really think Madam Bones will be able to help?" Luna asked.

"From what I remember she's fair. And Susan speaks highly of her. Besides I'm worried that Dumbledore might do something desperate now. Oh why didn't we think of that before?"

Harry recognized the signs of Hermione working herself up and pulled her onto his lap. Luna curled up next to them. "We can't think of everything. We just do what we can. Besides our main goal is Voldemort."

"Right. So should we try Madam Bones?" Hermione asked nervously. Her old insecurities showing through.

"I guess it's the best plan we've thought of and it'd get Sirius out of there faster, whether by the ministry or us. So tonight I grab the rat and take it to her tomorrow morning?" Harry had been itching to get his hands on that rat every night since Ron ended up in his dorm again.

"_You're finally going after that nasty rat?"_ Crookshanks asked from his place on the table. He had been chasing around an origami beetle Luna had animated for him. _"Can I finally eat it?"_

"No Crookshanks, I told you that rat would make you sick. I know you don't like him but he'll be gone soon." Hermione assured the growing kitten. It had been hard to explain to him why he could eat the rat that his instincts all but shouted at him to deal with.

"_Good, I don't like that rat. It's not trustworthy."_ Crookshanks pounced on the paper beetle, he opened his paws slightly and it flew across the table with its paper wings.

0-O-0

Harry waited until four in the morning before he made his move. A simple charm on his glasses allowed him to see better in the weak light in the dorm room. He had also left out a cheese sandwich on his nightstand with a small ward around it. It would immobilize anything that fully entered into ward. Which consisted of the plate. The runes for the ward had taken less than an hour to carve into the 'borrowed' plate. And if that failed they had drugged the sandwich with a powerful sleeping potion.

Unfortunately Scabbers hadn't taken the bait and Harry was forced to be more aggressive. A revealing charm showed Scabbers was under Ron's covers near his feet. A few sleeping charms over the entire bed and he easily snatched the rat.

Hermione and Luna were waiting for him in the Room or Requirements. They placed Scabbers into a warded box they had prepared back in September. Hermione handed him a scroll with all the information they knew that might help Sirius. "Harry, if this doesn't work, I'm sorry."

Harry took Hermione in his arms and kissed her cheek. He had finally gotten used to being the same height as her again. "Even if this doesn't work you have nothing to apologize for."

They sat around nervously waiting for seven o'clock. A casual conversation the night before with Susan had told them that her aunt normally arrived at the ministry early. As the clock in the corner chimed the hour finally Harry pulled on the cloak and Hedwig settled on his shoulder.

In a flash of fire they disappeared from Hogwarts.

(A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to my Beta Katzztar and drscot for fixing my many mistakes. And just so I don't receive complaints. Madam Bones calls it a pie-let light because while she knows a great deal about the muggle world she doesn't know it all.)


	18. Secret of the Chamber

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Eighteen: Secret of the Chamber

0-O-0

Madam Bones sat at her desk reviewing the reports she had received about the memory charms placed on Harry Potter's former teachers. Thankfully her agreement with Rita had mostly spared the ministry in the entire matter. Fudge was at least pleased with that. Half of her breakfast lay abandoned on her desk. She had taken to having her meals in her office while they tried to figure out exactly how big the memory charm problem was.

There was a burst of flames in the corner of her office. Madam Bones had her wand out and a shield raised before the flash of fire dissipated. She fully expected a follow up attack. Instead she found a cloaked figure with a purple phoenix setting on his shoulder. "Madam Bones."

Amelia kept the shield up and her hand hovered near the alarm rune that would call for help. "I take it you're Ash?"

The figure cocked its head slightly. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Rita Skeeter mentioned you."

"Ah, that would explain it. No matter. I have come to ask for your help." The figure spoke. The purple phoenix hopped from his shoulder to the desk and began to peck at the remains of Amelia's breakfast. "My apologies, it seems someone has forgotten her manners."

Madam Bones watched as the phoenix paused and glared at the figure before she went back to finishing Amelia's eggs. "And what do you need my help with? For that manner why did you feel the need to break into my office?"

"I did not break in, as nothing has been broken. I believe the worst you could have me on is trespassing. As for why I felt the need to arrive unseen, well… I do not wish for this to get out before it can be properly dealt with. Please understand I am not entirely sure about presenting this matter to you however I have been unable to think of a better option. You see Sirius Black is innocent."

Her shield faltered. "What?"

"Sirius Black is innocent. And I have proof." The figure said again.

"Sirius Black, mass murderer, betrayed the Potters, that Sirius Black?" Amelia asked. Clearly her visitor was crazy and had gone round the bend several times.

"Yes, except he did not betray the Potters or kill anyone. But I will leave that up to you to discover. In this box is an unregistered animagus. This scroll contains all of the information I was able to gather. Understand that if you fail in this matter I will have no reason to trust you again." Ash said as he set the box and scroll on her desk.

"How do you know this, and why didn't you come forward earlier?"

"I lacked the needed proof. Also I suggest you keep Dumbledore and Fudge out of this."

"Why?"

"I do not trust Fudge. And Dumbledore has a vested interest in keeping Black locked up. Despite what he says he is only Potter's magical guardian on paper, the old magics still recognize Black as Potter's magical guardian." Ash held out his arm and the phoenix flew to him.

Amelia knew she couldn't stop him from leaving. If she stunned Ash the phoenix would still take him away, if she stunned the phoenix then she would be in a fire fight in her own office against someone of unknown skill. Even with the auror department just a door away she wasn't prepared to risk it. Still, she wanted answers. "Wait! You've worked with Dumbledore before haven't you?"

"Yes, I was once a member of his Order of the Phoenix. Until I learned he planned to have me die for the 'greater good'. The nice thing about being dead is no one is looking for you."

"Did you know my brother, Edgar?"

"Sorry, no. I never had the pleasure to meet him. But from what the others said he was a great man. Even if his taste in disco music annoyed them." Ash said, remembering some of the stories he had been told about the first order.

That, more than anything else he had said convinced Madam Bones that he might not be as crazy as she thought. Her brother's love of the muggle music wasn't well known. In fact he never told anyone he didn't consider a close friend. While she was certain Ash could have learned of it somewhere else it wasn't something a person who didn't know her brother well would normally bring up.

"Oh and Madam Bones? I'm going to send a copy of that scroll to Mr. Potter; he deserves to know he still has family out there." With that Ash vanished in a pillar of fire.

Amelia placed several containment charms around the box and roll of parchment before she called in her most trusted auror, Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody. The grizzled man stepped into her office less than two minutes after she sent a memo to find him. "You called Madam Bones."

"Yes, what can you tell me about this box and parchment?" Amelia gestured towards the corner of her desk.

Moody waved his wand several times casting a large range of detection charms. "They're under several containment charms, looks like your own work. Nothing odd about the scroll. No magic in it. Looks like normal parchment and ink. Don't recognize the writing, looks to neat too be a person's. Probably some kind of notation quill."

His magic eye focused on the box. "Looks a lot like the containment crates used to hold dangerous magical creatures. You'd have a hard time getting out of one of those. Huh, looks like an unbreakable charm with supporting runes. This thing's more secure than our cuffs."

"Can you see what's inside?"

"Looks like a rat. Ain't though." Moody squinted at the box with his good eye, as if expecting it to give up its secrets with a mean look.

"Do know what it is?"

"If I had to guess, some dangerous creature transfigured into a rat that'll reverse when the box is opened. Good work. Where'd it come from? And if you're not gonna use it mind if I do? Having a little dispute with someone down in legal." His look was entirely too gleeful.

Amelia released the charms around the parchment and began to read it while Moody continued to scrutinize the box. Her frown deepened as she read. If the information inside was true then they were in trouble. Disregarding what was in the box. "Alastor. If this information is correct then that rat is an unregistered animagus and a Death Eater who had been in hiding for the last decade. I'm going try and change him back. Seal the room and be ready if he runs."

If she hadn't seen it before the look of glee on Moody's face would have been disturbing. A dozen spells later the room was sealed. Amelia levitated the lid from the box. Moody sent a stunner at the rat within to be safe. Ten seconds later Peter Pettigrew lay on Amelia's desk.

Moody used his wand to move back Peter sleeve. "He's marked."

Madam Bones sat back in her chair. "This is going to be a mess."

"Look on the bright side." Moody said as he placed handcuffs on Peter before searching him for wands, portkeys, potions and anything he might want.

"What's the bright side?"

"I'm not the one who has to explain the dead guy on my desk… this time."

0-O-0

Harry and Hedwig reappeared back in the Room of Requirements. Harry told them how it went while Hedwig went to the owlery to digest her stolen breakfast. They soon followed to have a quick breakfast before classes started. They were just passing the hall that lead to the kitchens and Hufflepuff common room when Ron rushed past them. Almost knocking over Luna, his robes half on and a sandwich hanging from his mouth.

"Prat."

When they reached the great hall they found a group of students and professors gathered around the Hufflepuff table. Hermione found Tonks along the outside of the group. "What is going on? Did something happen?"

"Weasley. He just keeled over while shoveling food into his mouth. A couple of us tried the anti-choking charm but it didn't help." Tonks said.

Professor Sprout climbed onto the table. "Attention! Your attention please! Mr. Weasley is fine. However he seems to have ingested a powerful sleeping draught. Please clear the way so that we can get him to the hospital wing."

The crowd broke up as Harry Hermione and Luna traded looks. They found seats at the far end of the Hufflepuff table. "Harry did you leave that sandwich out?"

"I… may have forgotten about it. How long will Ron be out?"

"Well it was a rat sized dose, so maybe an hour? Less if Madam Pomfrey has something to counteract it."

"Shame I thought we might get a quiet day."

0-O-0

The quiet morning without Ron ended in charms when a sixth year Hufflepuff interrupted to inform Harry that Professor Sprout wanted to see him. When Harry arrived at Professors Sprout's office he half expected to find Dumbledore waiting for him. Instead he found his head of house behind her desk and a fuming Ron sitting in one of the chairs. "Potter!"

"Enough Mr. Weasley! You are proving to be most annoying." Sprout chastised him.

Ron went back to silently fuming while Harry took the other available seat. "Professor Sprout, what's going on?"

"Mr. Weasley has accused you of trying to poison him."

"He did!" Ron shouted. He was silenced by a look from their head of house.

"No offence but I'd like to think if I poisoned you you'd actually be dead." Harry said, and then turned back to Professor Sprout. "So how did I supposedly poison Ron?"

"Mr. Weasley claims you placed a sandwich tainted with sleeping potion out for him."

"I see, where was the sandwich and how does Ron know it was me?" Harry asked as he tried to hide his smirk.

"Because it was on your nightstand!"

"So you took a sandwich from my nightstand?" Harry asked.

"Yes, so you must have put it out to poison me." Ron said as if it made perfect sense.

Professor Sprout sighed. She'd dealt with some dim students before but she really needed to have Poppy see to Mr. Weasley's mind. "Harry do you know anything about a sandwich on your nightstand?"

"No Professor Sprout. It wasn't there when I woke up this morning. And I feel I must point out even if it was my sandwich, then Mr. Weasley clearly stole it. Maybe this'll teach him not to eat food he finds lying around. Especially if it isn't his."

"So you admit you poisoned me!"

"No, all I said was that I hoped you learned a lesson, but I doubt it."

Before Ron could continue Professor Sprout stopped him. "I believe that the sandwich was a prank being played on Mr. Potter. I find he isn't responsible for it. Mr. Weasley you clearly took it knowing full well it wasn't yours. Since you've embarrassed yourself at breakfast I won't assign any further punishment."

Harry quickly thanked her and left before Ron could start arguing. The red spreading up his face made it clear he was about to have a meltdown.

Several minutes later an embarrassed Ron left his head of houses office. Professor Sprout followed a minute later. After they had both left Dumbledore stood from his hiding place. He was both disillusioned and hidden under Harry's own invisibility cloak. He had decided to allow Professor Sprout to deal with this incident and observe how she handled it. He was disappointed that after Harry had left she had taken points from Ronald because he refused to accept her verdict. He'd have to find a way to allow Mr. Weasley to earn back those points, and instruct Flitch not too be too harsh on him during his detention.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna were on their way to dinner when Draco and Pansy walked around a corner. Hermione and Luna were off in a flash, cooing over the little kitten in Pansy's arms. A bright blue kitten. Draco watched them in disgust for a moment before he turned to Harry. "Do all girls do that around oddly colored cats? They're the eighth and ninth since we left our common room."

"No idea. When Hermione and Luna start making those noises though it's normally best just to back away. So where'd Pansy get a blue kitten?" Harry was sure she hadn't had him the last time around, he remembered something about a cat but it definitely wasn't blue.

"He was sleeping on her bed after classes; he seems to have taken a liking to her though."

Harry watched as the three girls fawned over the kitten. The sneer Pansy wore when she first saw them had softened. "I think he just likes the attention."

"Possibly. By the way I heard back from my father." Draco said. In truth they had exchanged over a dozen letters on the matter of the duel before Malfoy Senior had agreed. "He has agreed to your terms and has suggested we ask Professor Flitwick to oversee it."

Draco tried to hide his smirk. Flitwick had been chosen so that when Granger lost Potter couldn't back out claiming some kind of unfairness. His father had also sent him a book on more advanced spells with instructions not to accept the duel until he had learned several of them. All powerful offensive spells that would leave Granger overwhelmed.

"Alright, I'll speak with him. Is next Saturday acceptable?" Harry asked.

"That will be fine. I await the time." Draco gave a short stiff bow to formally acknowledge the duel before he pulled Pansy away from the other girls.

"That cat's a lot nicer than the one she had last time." Hermione commented.

"That wasn't the same one?" Harry asked, trying to think of any changes they made that could result in Pansy getting a new cat, a blue one at that.

"No her old one was a mean Siamese. This one looked to be part Kneazle, I'm not sure about its coloring but it had beautiful green eyes. Like yours Harry." Hermione said teasingly.

"Wonderful, I have another cat for competition."

"Don't let Lord Crookshanks hear you minion birdnest." Luna's voice sang.

Harry groaned at being reminded of the kitten's new name for him. He had decided that Harry's hair looked like a birds nest, not helped by the origami bird Luna had charmed to follow him around for a day. Harry's smile faded as his mind turned back towards the latest problem. "I think we need to deal with the Basilisk soon. It's making me nervous to know Riddle's hitching a ride on our Defense professor and knows about it. What if he needs another distraction to go after the stone? Releasing it has got to be easier than letting a troll in."

"We can talk with Hathfojd and Fawkes tonight. They've been at Hogwarts since the start." Hermione said. None of them mentioned the hope that the Sorting Hat would know another way to kill the basilisk besides using Gryffindor's sword. They were nervous about using a rooster without knowing it would work for fear of enraging the creature.

During dinner Dumbledore noticed the somber mood among the three and wondered if he shouldn't try a few listening charms in their dorms. He desperately needed more information on them. As it was it felt like they were all playing different games and Dumbledore knew the rules to none.

0-O-0

Long after the other students were asleep and the ghosts had settled into their nooks to watch the night pass by Harry, Hermione and Luna meet with Hathfojd and Fawkes. The sentient headwear and phoenix had barely appeared before Fawkes began chirping at the Sorting Hat. "Alright alright I'll ask! Keep your tail feathers on. The turkey wants to know if Pansy Parkinson is enjoying her new kitten."

Hermione and Luna spun to face Fawkes. "You gave her Bluebell?"

The Sorting Hat continued to translate for Fawkes. "Yes, he says he stole it from somewhere around Mr. Potter's old home. Oh how I wish I could have seen that! Apparently everything looked like a gnome had thrown up on it. Little known fact, gnome vomit looks like a rainbow."

"One eww, two how do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"Because I'm a thinking cap." Hathfojd replied.

"That doesn't answer anything."

The seam Hathfojd used as a mouth puckered and he blew a raspberry at Hermione. "There's your answer. Ah still got it!"

Fawkes hid his head behind a wing, embarrassed for his companion. Harry cleared his throat. "Yes, good show. The reason we called you guys tonight is that we want to deal with the basilisk before Riddle thinks of using it to somehow get the stone. Can you tell us anything that might help? Preferably a way to get rid of it that doesn't involve me sticking a sword into its mouth."

The Sorting Hat sighed; Fawkes gave a sad trill before he nudged his companion. "I am only allowed to speak of the chamber with those who know of it. That is a fundamental part of both my and the schools construction. If I had been able to last time I would have provided the information needed to deal with him after the first attack.

"Each of the founders left a guardian to help watch after the school. Gryffindor left his friend the giant squid. Hufflepuff left Fawkes. Slytherin left the basilisk, or as Gryffindor called him Sir Scaly Bottom. I swear that man was trying to get killed."

Even Luna blinked in surprise. "He called a basilisk, one of the deadliest magical creatures in the world, Sir Scaly Bottom?"

"Yes, but to be fair it was much smaller then. Barely ten feet long. He was never meant to kill students, even muggle-borns. True Slytherin despised muggles, thought they were uncultured animals. And at the time he was somewhat correct. But his basilisk was left to act as a final defense of the school. The chamber was sealed to only appear when Hogwarts had need of it. I do not know how Riddle found it, and can only guess being a descendent of Slytherin allowed him to access it and make changes."

Hermione held up her hands. "Not to get off track but you said each of the founders left a guardian. Who was Ravenclaws?"

"Hmm, she was a smart one. She made one of the most complex ritual circles I have ever seen, well at least until you three came along. She knew having so many magical children in a single place year after year would cause a buildup of magic that could manifest itself in a dozen ways. She insured that the magic would go towards something she could appreciate. Did you know she was the only one who could out prank Gryffindor?" Hathfojd asked.

"Peeves!" Luna shouted.

"Yes, she wanted to insure that the students and staff did not forget the wonder of magic, to have a little fun with it. Admittedly by your standards his jokes are a bit crude but for the time he was formed they were funny. Actually there should be at least another two poltergeists by now. I've always wondered why they never formed." Hathfojd said with a thoughtful expression.

"Something else to look into." Hermione said. One thing down a dozen more to do.

"So maybe without Riddle controlling him he won't try to kill us." Harry said hopefully. Fighting a basilisk was not on his bucket list this time around.

"Perhaps, though Fawkes and I will accompany you in case he is not open to talking." Hathfojd said.

Luna picked up the Sorting Hat and rested it on her head. A moment later she began to giggle while Hathfojd chuckled at their silent conversation. Hermione drew their attention back to the seriousness of what they were about to do. "Before we go, in case he doesn't want to talk is there anything you can tell us about fighting a basilisk?"

"Hmm, well a rooster is only fatal to them when they are young. After that it's annoying and can send them into a rage. Unless the creature is less than three months old I'd avoid that method. Magic is all but useless at penetrating their thick skin so your only option really is physical assaults. Should it prove necessary I will provide Gryffindor's sword once more." No one missed the resigned tone to the Sorting Hat's voice.

They made their way unopposed to Moaning Myrtles bathroom, the wailing ghost was gone for the night. Crookshanks and Hedwig were waiting for them. Harry was about to speak to the sink when Hermione grabbed his shoulder. "Hang on. Let's make sure Riddle hasn't left anything for someone else trying to open the chamber."

The three of them cast every detention charm they could think of available to them with their limited magic. Aside from a basic charm to inform the caster if the chamber was opened it appeared to be alright. Hermione and Harry transferred the charm to a faucet two sinks over.

Once that was done Harry commanded the sink to open. Stale air wafted over them bringing with it the stench of decay. It took a dozen air freshening charms to deal with the worst of the smell. "I don't suppose you know of a way to get stairs?"

"Have you tried asking for them?" Hathfojd asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Harry admitted. He turned back to the slide and hissed again. The slide split into sections, they revolved until they settled into stairs. They were still covered in filth. Harry went first casting cleaning charms on the steps below him.

The passage to the chamber was just as disgusting as Harry remembered it. Torches flickered to life as Harry opened the inner door. "Hermione, Luna, I want to two to stay behind the far pillars. If the basilisk attacks, run. Fawkes can get you out. Hedwig will take me."

Hedwig nipped at Harry's ear but remained quiet. She was a creature of the sky. Being so deep underground did not feel pleasant. Being so deep underground to meet a giant snake that may or may not try to kill them put her on edge.

Crookshanks had turned invisible but Hermione could feel him walking beside her as she took she place. Luna passed Harry the Sorting Hat before she took her own place.

The air in the chamber was damp, if it wasn't so cold Harry would have expected mist to form and cling to the pillars. He stood before the large stone face and hissed the command for it to open. As the mouth slid down Harry retreated half way back along the chamber. After several long moments scales scrapping along stone could be heard before a large weight fell onto the stone floor.

{{You are not the dark speaker. And you carry that idiot's hat.}} The voice sent a shiver down Harry's spine. It was the same one he had heard in his second year begging to rip and kill.

Fawkes gave a happy trill.

{{Fawkes, it is good to see you again. You are smaller than I remember.}}

Another song filled the chamber, one filled with mirth.

{{Just because my mother was a chicken does not mean I won't eat bird. Now young speaker why have you come?}}

{{I am Harry Potter, eh; I don't suppose you would close your eyes so I can open mine?}} If Harry was honest with himself he was surprised to have gotten this far.

{{There is no need, my protective eyelids are closed. You and your companions are safe.}}

"They are." Hathfojd confirmed.

Harry figured it wouldn't matter if he looked through one eye or both so he opened his eyes and slowly raised them towards the basilisk head. Moaning Myrtle had said its eyes were yellow. With the amber tinted covers they appeared golden. The giant snake looked down at him with amusement. {{You are of Hufflepuff's house? I liked her. She always had such wonderful snacks when I was newly hatched. Much better than that ill-mannered idiot Gryffindor.}}

The Sorting Hat chuckled. "He may have had his faults but Gryffindor was a great man. Yes he could not come up with a name for his life, and he did try to color me red more than once but he was the heart of the founders. Are you still upset about that time he painted the great squid's tentacles and convinced you there was a hydra living in the lake?"

{{I was but a few months old!}} The basilisk hissed back.

Harry just shook his head. Things had been strange since they came back but this. "Hermione, Luna, you guys can come out."

Slowly both girls moved forward through the chamber. Neither could believe the size of the creature Harry stood next to. Luna was the first to recover from her surprise. "Hello. I am Luna and this is Hermione. What is your name?"

{{Ah, a polite little one aren't you? I am Slytherin.}} The basilisk replied.

Harry gave him a skeptical look. {{Really?}}

{{Yes, while that fool Gryffindor was horrible at names, Slytherin was uncreative.}}

"And you think Gryffindor was bad with names." The Sorting Hat snorted.

"He says his name is Slytherin. Apparent Slytherin wasn't very creative with names." Harry explained to the girls.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Slytherin." Luna said.

{{Likewise.}}

"If I may make a suggestion?" Hathfojd interrupted them. "This conversation will go fast if I translate for you two."

Harry handed the Sorting Hat to them. Slytherin watched them a moment. {{Not that I am displeased to have visitors. But this is not a welcoming place, why have you come here?}}

While Hathfojd translated to the girls Harry began to explain. {{We are concerned. We have heard that a girl was killed about fifty years ago, by you. We wanted to make sure something like that wouldn't happen again.}}

To their surprise Slytherins face fell at the mention of Myrtle. {{I failed. When the child came I was thrilled to finally have someone to speak with again. Then he bound me with dark magic to obey him. I have failed in my role to guard the children and castle, costing one of them their very life. I was never able to fulfil my purpose. If you seek to prevent more deaths by me then I welcome your blade, for only in death am I free from that vile creature's orders.}}

Fawkes began to trill a song of regret and sadness. Tears brimmed in Lunas eyes. Hermione had a deep frown on her face. "You mean, you want us to kill you?"

{{It is the only way to insure I can not harm another student. Even now I can feel the dark magic waiting in my mind. Waiting to seize me, fill me with a desire to kill, rip, and tear. It is a nightmare you can not begin to understand. Then when I am finally released from that magic to learn I have taken the life of a student. I was raised to defend this castle and all within. I have failed; death is the only way to insure I am not forced to kill others.}} Slytherin had gone from sadness and anger as he spoke.

"But maybe we can remove the magic controlling you." Luna offered.

{{I know of no way to do this. I can feel it, a piece of him lurking within me. And even if there was there is no time, could you risk it? The creature has returned to the castle, feeding on one of your professors like a leech. It has already returned here once to check the wards it left.}}

"What wards?" Hermione demanded.

{{Just inside the door, carved into the floor, the runes are filled with powdered rocks to hide them. The creature said it would prevent anyone not of pure blood from entering.}} Slytherin said with more than a hint of disgust in his voice.

Hermione snorted. "Well they didn't work, if they ever did, because I'm a muggle-born and got in just fine."

"We don't need to do anything yet. Let us look for a way to help you." Harry pleaded with Slytherin. Now that they had spoken he wasn't sure he could bear to kill him again.

{{You risk much if you wait. But there is little I could do. I hope you decide before I am ordered back into the castle proper.}} As Slytherin spoke Harry couldn't help but feel that he had already given up hope.

They stayed in the chamber for several more hours before they returned to their dorms, gathering as much information as they could about the magics cast on Slytherin by Riddle. All they were able to gather though were a few runes from a mostly destroyed ritual circle. When they left they moved the detection charm back onto the sink so no one would know they were there.

They could only hope Riddle didn't notice the steps were now clean.

0-O-0

Over the proceeding days Harry Hermione and Luna devoted most of their time to discovering a way to help Slytherin. Despite their best efforts though they were able to do little more than identify which type of runes were being used. Neither the Potter library nor Hogwarts had any usefully information. They even tried to Room of Requirements in case the knowledge was hidden somewhere in the castle but came up empty. While they worked the date of Hermione's duel with Draco crept up on them.

0-O-0

Saturday Draco prepared for his duel against Hermione. He couldn't wait to see Potter's face when she lost and he had to learn the proper way of the magical world. He was about to leave the Slytherin dorm when his godfather, Professor Snape intercepted him. "Draco, you father has requested to speak with you. He has made the trip to do so in person. You may use my office, do not keep him waiting."

"Yes sir." Draco hurried towards the potion master's office. His mind raced as to why his father had decided to come in person. True it had taken him much longer than Draco had thought necessary to agree to the duel but he was sure that was not a sign his father doubted his abilities. No his father must have arrived to wish him luck and watch him win. Yes that was it.

When he entered the office Draco found his father standing near the fireplace. "Father."

"Draco. I have thought over the matter and decided we can not waste this opportunity or leave anything to chance. I have decided to take precautions." Lucius said as he approached his son.

"What type of precautions father?" Draco asked hesitantly.

Lucius reached out and ran a gloved hand over Draco's head. Then ripped out a hair. "The necessary type."

Draco watched as his father pulled out a small potions vial and added his hair before he downed the concoction. With a great shudder Malfoy Senior shrank until he was a perfect replica of his son, in robes several sizes too large.

Lucius nearly gagged on the potion. "Disgusting."

He pulled out a spare set of robes he had purchased the week before. When he was done there was no way to tell the difference between father and son by sight. "Your wand Draco."

Reluctantly Draco handed over his wand. Lucius slipped his own up his shelve in case he should need it. Not that he expected to. "Listen well Draco. This room will remain sealed until I return. Wait here."

"Yes Father." Draco watched dejectedly as his father strolled out the door and closed it was a crisp snap.

0-O-0

(A/N: I am really sorry for the delay with this chapter. Real life hit hard and one of my Beta suffered a personal loss, so I dedicate this chapter to them. This chapter officially puts Tempest of the Fae over 100k words which makes it the longest story I have ever posted. At over 500 reviews, 175k views, 1000 favorites and 1600 alerts it is also the most popular story I have posted. Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar and Perfect Lionheart.)


	19. Vultures

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Nineteen: Vultures.

0-O-0

Lucius strutted through the hallways of Hogwarts. A smirk on his, or rather, his son's face. His plan had worked perfectly. While he had no doubt Draco could beat a fresh mudblood he disagreed with his son's observations. Potter would not have issued the challenge unless he was sure that the bitch would win, consequently he suspected Potter had recruited an older student to tutor them in dueling.

He had stalled Draco in accepting the challenge, even giving him a book of advanced spells to learn just to give Severus enough time to finish a batch of polyjuice potion. While he could buy it somewhere already finished the potion had a short shelf life and worked best fresh. Buying it was fine when with a whore but for this there was no room for error. This was why he had taken Draco's place.

The mudblood would learn her place and Potter would see that blood told all. Then, should his master ever return he would be in a position to hand Potter over to him. And until then he could use Potter's considerable influence.

Behind him Crabbe and Goyle lumbered along, if there was ever an argument against Blood Supremacy they were it. As dumb as their fathers and only good as muscle. But they were easy to controle, much like their fathers. That was why Lucius had picked their fathers up in the first place.

When they arrived at the room where the duel was to take place Lucius paused a moment to cast several charms. While dueling platforms had runes to negate most methods of cheating, there were legal ways to get the upper hand. One was appearance. His robes billowed around him as though tugged at by his power; his eyes gleamed with a cruel light. Yes, the mudblood might be too afraid to even raise her wand against him, just as it should be.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna sat on the edge of the dueling platform talking with Professor Flitwick while they waited for Draco to arrive. When he finally stepped into the room his entire demeanor, the way he walked and held himself was different than how he had been. Each of the time travelers were reminded of his father.

"Potter, let's get this over with so I can begin to educate you about how the wizarding world truly works." Lucius said, trying to sound both like his son but still sophisticated. He turned to the steps that led onto the platform and ascended them. Or tried to.

Lucius misjudged the steps height with his son's shorter legs and tripped. His chin crashed onto the platform, his tongue caught painfully between his teeth. He hurried back to his feet, cursing his son for being so short. What was he, part gnome?

Professor Flitwick tried not to snicker from his place. It had been a sight worthy of a muggle comedy scene. "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger if you would each take your starting place. You have both read the rules of an official duel? Excellent. Then begi…"

Lucius snapped his wand around and cast the shoulder slipping hex. Hermione leaned to the side to avoid the spell.

"Halt! Mr. Malfoy! You said you had read the rules. Tell me what did they say about when to start?" Flitwick demanded.

The urge to roll his eyes almost overpowered Lucius. "The first spell may be cast as soon as you have finished opening the duel."

"Yes, and the duel is not opened until I have finished speaking. I will not tolerate either duelist as the muggles say, jumping the gun. Understood?"

"I was well within my rights and do not need you to lecture me about dueling." Lucius spat at the small professor as he wished he had a pain potion for his tongue.

Flitwick whipped his wand around to face Draco. "Do you presume to know more than me about dueling? Your father may have taught you the basics but I was dueling before he could hold a wand. And in case he forgot to teach you the official overseeing a duel has complete authority. This is a serious matter in which people have been killed before. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Lucius ground out between clenched teeth. He knew Flitwick had been a former dueling champion and had assumed, apparently wrongly, that he understood the finer points of a duel.

"Good. Resume you places and Do. Not. Start. Until I have finished." He watched Lucius for a moment before said. "Now begin."

Annoyed Lucius did not restrain himself as much as he had planned. While the shoulder slipper would only have dislocated her shoulder the shattering curse would break her shoulder blade. He growled as the mudblood continued to doge his curses. He blocked her pathetic attempts to retaliate against him and boldly stood his ground as any decent pureblood would. At least in his mind.

The others in the room saw something very different. While Hermione was able to move out of the way of most of the curses Lucius only shielded, a poor strategy for a first year. But one that still seemed to be working for him. Until he made a classic dueling mistake and mispronounced a spell thanks to the pain in his tongue. The spell exploded in front of his wand and knocked Lucius down. Hermione held her next spell. "Are you alright Draco?"

Lucius couldn't believe he had made such a mistake and was reminded of why the tongue tying jinx was generally banned in duels. His answer was a rib ripping curse that barely missed Hermione.

"Halt! Mr. Malfoy that was a lethal spell!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lucius said and he climbed back to his feet.

Flitwick was about reprimand him for his last curse when he caught Hermione make the sign duelists used to ask for the duel to continue. The small professor sighed and wished for a moment that he could deduct points from Malfoy, but as it was this was an official duel and did not relate to school matters so he was limited in his response. "One more spell like that and I will declare you the looser. Begin."

Spells flew from Hermione's wand but she didn't have enough power to break through the shield. She knew something wasn't right; Draco hadn't been this good in second year when he dueled Harry. And he had immediately opened with spells above their year. As he let his shield drop he used more borderline curses, non-lethal but extremely painful. Hermione raised her own shield while she tried to understand what was happening. Draco with fighting just like his father. Which meant he had taken extensive lessons from him. But maybe Draco had picked up more than a few of his father's habits.

Hermione had fought against the Malfoys enough to know their style. Hermione twisted out of the way of a finger fracturing curse and sent a stunner towards him. He moved out of the way, his robes billowing behind him. Perfect. "Panno ligare!"

The second spell caught his robes. The fabric began to twist around him; the clothes tightened and turned his dodge into a tumble. He tried to fire another curse at Hermione but her disarmer sent his wand across the platform. His second wand was uselessly trapped under his tightening robes. Within moments he was tightly cocooned, unable to do more than curse and wiggle.

Hermione stood at the other end of the platform panting, her face red from the amount of magic she had needed to use during the short duel. "I believe that's my win."

"Quiet right Miss Granger. I must congratulate you on your victory. Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger you should both be pleased. I have never seen two first years duel so well. One moment and I will have you unraveled Mr. Malfoy." Flitwick said as he undid Hermione's charm.

With a growl Lucius climbed back to his feet. He tried to control his breathing, which was difficult as every movement sent a painful jolt through him. Blast it all he needed to find a lavatory and extract himself from his still charmed underwear. Was it his imagination or was it still tightening? Either the half-breed was unable to completely remove the mudbloods curse or had intentional left it because his undergarments had twisted so tightly around his family jewels that he'd need a cutting curse to remove them.

He briefly considered killing Dobby before he turned him over to Potter just to spite him. But decided it would be best to simply honor the agreement. This was going to be embarrassing enough as it was. At least everyone would believe it to be Draco who had failed to beat the mudblood. Still he'd use his remaining time with the creature to work it as close to death as he could. Not to death, no that would affect his social standing too much. If an elf died in service to you fine, if it died shortly after you turned it over to another it was seen as selling defective merchandise. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He needed to leave and deal with his clothes.

"Dobby will be delivered to you within the week. I just need to write my father and let him know." Lucius said, Draco's voice was higher than normal thanks to his underwear that tightened with every movement.

Harry watched Draco shuffle painfully from the room and break into a lopsided run as soon as he was in the hall while Luna helped Hermione off the stage. "Did Draco seem off to anyone else?"

"He was." Hermione said as she accepted a glass of water from Professor Flitwick and took a deep gulp. The cold liquid soothing her throat. "Thank you. I think he took lessons from his father. None of those spells were first year."

"Indeed Miss Granger. I believe Mr. Malfoy could have out dueled many third years, if he was not thrown out for violating the rules. I believe you could have as well. I was quiet impressed by your skill." The small professor said.

"Thank you sir, since I don't yet have the magic for most proper dueling spells I decided to pick a few versatile ones and perfect them as much as I could." Hermione was easily able to slip into the cover story she had worked out.

"A smart approach. And how did you become so skilled at dodging?"

Hermione looked away sheepishly, the picture of an embarrassed first year. "I was bullied a lot before I meet Harry and Luna. I got good at getting out of their way."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. The smartest are often targeted though."

"Thank you sir."

0-O-0

Later that day Harry sat in one of the many alcoves around the castle, he leaned back against the windowsill. Hermione sat in his lap leaning back against him. His arms rested loosely around her stomach. One of Harry's hands traced a small circle through her shirt.

While they enjoyed time spent all together they also enjoyed time spent one on one. Of course since they had come back in time their activities had drastically slowed down. Well except when Hermione wanted to research something.

"I wonder what Luna's up to." Harry asked absently.

"You have a beautiful girl in your arms and you're talking about another woman?" Hermione said with as much mock offence as she could muster.

"As if you aren't dying of curiosity as well." Harry teased back.

Hermione crossed her arms but wiggled closer to Harry. "Fine I am, but she'll tell us sooner or later. She always does."

"Five galleons says it has something to do with the giant squid." Harry said.

"You're on; I bet it has something to do with the thestral. And speaking of creepy creatures did you hear what Snape did to Neville in potions yesterday?"

"Snape taking all those points, giving him a weeks' worth of detention, saying he was a squib and that he'd never measure up to his father? Yeah I heard." Harry growled out.

"We really need to do something about him." Hermione said.

"Does that mean you and Luna have figured out the dark mark?"

"No, we've borrowed Snape a dozen times now and we still haven't unraveled it. There's definitely more but until our magic grows enough to use the more powerful detection spells we're stuck." Hermione admitted. They had thirty feet of parchment with the information that they had uncovered about the mark from their studies of Snape.

"So if we can't get rid of him, can we torment him and drive him insane?" Harry asked hopefully. He'd come up with dozens of ideas over the last few months to use against the potions professor.

"I suppose so. Dumbledore won't let him leave, and I can't imagine he'd want to go, Snape would see it as admitting defeat. Have something in mind?"

"Remember Neville's fear from third year?"

0-O-0

Monday morning a tired Harry, Hermione and Luna sat down at the Hufflepuff table. They had used the same spell as last time so that Snape wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary until it was pointed out to him. And to stretch the prank out they'd also placed the same spell on the other professors, minus Dumbledore since they couldn't get to him and Hagrid since the magic wouldn't have taken.

Surprisingly none of the other professors had much in the way of extra security charms or wards on their rooms. Which was just as well since it gave them enough time for a few hours' sleep before the show started.

They didn't have to wait long; the great hall was filled with students and professors when Snape walked in. His normal robes had been replaced with Madam Longbottom's nightgown, complete with her stuffed vulture hat.

McGonagall put her head in her hands. "Oh lord, I begged him not to wear that in public."

"I still can't believe he dresses up like that."

"Well everyone knows now."

Snape didn't pay any attention to his fellow professors as he took his seat. When his breakfast appeared he picked up a piece of bacon and held it to the vulture. "Go on, have a nibble."

The great hall had fallen deathly quiet. The students looked on in disbelief as the most feared professor in the school went completely crazy and the other professors looked on in shame. After several tries to feed his hat Snape stood and walked down the table to Hagrid. He removed the vulture and held it out to the large man. "Would you examine my vulture? I would ask Professor Kettleburn however he is still recovering from the loss of his seventh toe."

"Eh, right." Hagrid took the stuffed bird and held it up. "Mighty nice looking bird."

"She refuses to eat."

"Professor, yah bird's stuffed." Hagrid said, he looked around for help as he attempted to figure out what was happening.

Snape took back the vulture. "Stuffed? Have you been snacking when I wasn't looking again? Well I can't stay mad at you, Lily."

Harry's head snapped around to look at Luna.

"It wasn't me!" the blonde whispered hastily. Hermione shook her head as well.

They turned back to the head table in time to see something that would scar them all. Snape looked fondly at the stuffed vulture. "Give hubby a kiss."

0-O-0

Dumbledore walked into the great hall to find silence. Every student turned towards the head table where Snape, dressed in a night gown was planting kisses on the head of a stuffed vulture. The Headmaster was surprised by the tenderness the potion master was showing. Hagrid looked torn between being sick and attempting to rescue the vulture. The other professors were all pointedly turned away from the display.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?" Dumbledore's shout broke the students from their stupor. Several hurried from the great hall looking green.

"Headmaster." Snape said almost pleasantly.

"Severus my boy, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you wearing, why were you expressing your love for that stuffed bird in the middle of the great hall?"

"I am wearing my robes and I was merely… merely." Snape's mouth opened several times as he tried to find the appropriate words.

Dumbledore recognized the signs of a confundus overlaid with some type of notice-me-not. While he could cancel the charms it would be better to break them. "My boy, those are not your robes and that is not your hat."

Snape shivered as the direct confrontation broke the spell. The other professors followed a moment later. Snape jerked and hurled the stuffed vulture with a look of disgust on his face. His horrified expression became one of rage as he looked out at the students. None dared to laugh at him but there were many smirks and snickers among them. His glare settled on a single student.

While the other professors were still coming out of the confusion Snape jumped up and stormed towards the Gryffindor table. He grabbed Neville by his robes and lifted him up. "Longbottom, did you think I wouldn't recognize your grandmother's hat?"

Harry, Hermione and Luna watched in horror as Snape rushed the terrified Neville. They hadn't thought he'd try to blame their shy friend for the prank. Harry jumped up. "Let him go!"

"Potter, stay out of this or I will have you scrubbing cauldrons until your ill-mannered offspring take their O.W.L.'s!" Snape threatened, his face turning a darker shade of red.

"You said Neville was a squib. Either he is one or he charmed you. It can't be both you greasy grit." Harry hoped that would draw the potion master's attention to him. It did.

Snape dropped Neville and in a few long strides reached Harry. Here was where Harry's plan ended; he had Snape attention and no idea what to do next. He had thought that being in the great hall would limit his reaction but the look of pure loathing and hatred on his face made Harry reconsider. For a moment the idea that Snape could cut off his legs right then and Dumbledore would just Obliviate everyone filtered across his mind. He wondered what excuse the Headmaster would give if that happened.

Snape lifted Harry by his robes before he could duck. Harry cursed himself for becoming lax; he should have begun to move as soon as Snape approached their table.

"You! You are behind this!" It was practically a growl from the professor. Still holding Harry he stormed towards the front of the hall. Snape was enraged. His rational side knew even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to justify what he was about to do but he didn't care. He had waited long enough for a measure of revenge against Potter. The small detention he had been allowed was not enough.

Even Potter's father had never embarrassed him in the great hall to such a degree. He had spent nearly ten years perfecting his image and it had been ruined in a matter of minutes! His pride, always sore where a Potter was involved, demanded satisfaction.

Hermione and Luna rushed after Snape and Harry. Harry struggled against the iron grasp that Snape had on him. His wand easily found its way to his hand but Harry hesitated to use it. They were still in full view of the students and professors. Sprout had finally gotten up and was hurrying after them with Harry's friends. If they made it to the stairs he'd have to risk a tripping jinx. Nothing noticeable, yet.

They stopped in front of the counters for the house points. The four large hourglasses stood along the wall, filled with stones for each house. The one for Hufflepuff was noticeably fuller then the others. At 962 points they were just over 300 points ahead of Gryffindor. Mostly thanks to their little prank on Snape.

The potion professor looked at the almost filled hourglass. He had no idea if the counter could go into the negatives but he was about to find out. "A thousand points from Hufflepuff!"

The counter began to spin. Snape's twisted smile lasted only a moment before he realized the number was going up. More gems poured into the hourglass. Even when the topaz reached the top of the container the magic tried to force more in.

The hourglasses were not made by the founders; the charms wore out and needed to be replaced every ten years. Dumbledore had been negligent in his duties. The magically reinforced glass cracked. Snape loosened his hold on Harry. When the hourglass shattered Harry jumped back. Several stones shot past him cutting his face.

A cascade of yellow gems rushed over a stunned Snape. The other professors arrived just in time to watch him be buried under the pile of stones. Hermione and Luna rushed to Harry, their wands out healing his cuts before he was completely up.

Professor Sprout had been right behind them and smiled as she watched them expertly treat Harry. As soon as they had him standing Hermione turned to her. "Professor Sprout, Harry has just been attacked by a professor in front of the entire school and barely escaped grievous injury. The three of us will be missing our first class so we can insure Harry is alright."

The herbology professor's mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had just happened. She hadn't even registered that Harry had in fact been attacked. In light of that missing a class to be comforted by his friend seemed reasonable. "Very well. And ten points to Hufflepuff."

Ten more gems fell from the broken hourglass. They caused the top of the pile to collapse back onto Snape who McGonagall and Dumbledore had just dug out. Sprout cringed. "Sorry."

Harry, Hermione and Luna used the distraction to hurry away from the great hall. They found an unused classroom and barely made it in before they collapsed laughing. It took several minutes before they had calmed down enough to untangle themselves and talk. "Oh Merlin, that was amazing."

"I know. But why was Snape treating that hat like a pet? And why did he name it after Harry's mum?"

"I may have over powered the confundus I put on him." Luna admitted.

"Wait I was the one who did the confundus charm." Harry said.

"No I was." Hermione said before her eyes widened. "So we all confounded him? I guess that might explain it. Still that was disturbing."

"He was kissing it." Harry shivered as he remembered.

"I know the hat was just transfigured but I still feel bad for it." Luna added.

"At least he got buried when the counter exploded. I wasn't expecting that." Harry admitted. It was a nice bonus. "We'll need to hurry and remove the change to the ward stone so Dumbledore doesn't figure out someone set it to give points every time Snape tried to take them away."

"He won't." Luna said with a sly smile. "There's no reason for him to think it was anything with the schools wards. Especially when I left a charm on the counter itself."

"Which one?" Hermione asked.

"Remember when we tried to teach Harry spell craft? His attempt to boil water?"

Harry groaned as he remembered his first attempt at making a spell. It was simple, work out a spell to heat water to a boil. There were dozens of spells that did it. But every time he found a problem with his spell he added more to patch it up. Cannibalizing a dozen spells for parts to make it work. Hermione and Luna had finally stopped him saying the equation for his spell was almost thirty times longer than it should have been. He was sure he was almost done with it as well.

"So Dumbledore will find it, have no clue what it is or does and assume it's the reason behind the mistakes with the point system. It'll take him hours at least to figure out what the spell is supposed to do." Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Dumbledore's face when he finally figured out what the spell was for. By then the wards would be set back and there would be no reason for what happened.

"We should send a letter to Neville's gran in case Snape tries to blame him again." Harry said to distract them from his failure as a spell crafter.

0-O-0

It was during their afternoon charms lesson that the expected summons for Harry to go see Dumbledore arrived. What was unexpected was that the message was relayed by a paper airplane that floated into the classroom and unfolded itself in front of Professor Flitwick. "Mr. Potter, the Headmaster requests to see you immediately."

"Is it a request or an order?" Harry asked.

"What?"

"If it is a request then I can decline until my head of house can accompany me. If it is an order then I don't have much choice in the matter do I?" Harry explained.

Flitwick looked back at the note in his hands. "I believe it is an order."

Harry sighed deeply. "Of course it is. Tell me sir does the headmaster normally make it a policy to only see students when their head of house is unable to also be there?"

"I am afraid I don't know. He normally doesn't speak to students at all."

"Oh lucky me. Fine, I guess I better go then. I'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz…" Harry's voice faded as he left the classroom. Several of the muggle-borns began to laugh; even Professor Flitwick couldn't hide a smile.

0-O-0

As Harry came around the corner he spotted Crookshank's and Bluebell circling each other. _"Truly you are the most fearsome opponent I have yet faced in these halls. Swear loyalty to me and you shall become my greatest minion."_

"Meow."

"_What? No! I won't be _your_ minion!"_

"Meow."

"_Well your mother was a smurf!"_

"Meow?"

"_I don't know some kind of blue mouse with a mushroom on its head."_

Bluebell stopped and watched Crookshank's face for a moment before she darted down the hall. Hermione's kitten gave chase. Harry shook his head and continued on. That was definitely blackmail material against the little feline.

0-O-0

Dumbledore was seated behind his imposing desk. Snape sneered at Harry as he entered. "Potter."

"Professor. You wanted to see me headmaster?"

"Yes my boy. Is there anything you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore rested his chin against his fingers. While he would have preferred to take longer to try and understand Harry but he could not ignore this morning's events. He had all but stunned Severus to keep him from going after Harry.

"Tell? No. But I do have a question. Surely whatever this is about could have waited until a time where my head of house could also be present, I wonder why you felt the need to pull me from my classes." Harry asked innocently.

"I am a busy person Harry, this was the only time I had available today to deal with this incident and I felt that it needed to be resolved today. Now I was referring to what you did to Professor Snape this morning." Dumbledore had, without realizing it, slipped back into his grandfatherly persona.

"What did I do to professor Snape today?"

"How about dressing me in those ridiculous robes? Making me fall in love with a stuffed vulture? Trying to bury me under your house's ill-gotten points!" Snape made a move towards Harry but Dumbledore held up a hand to still him.

"We seem..." Harry said slowly. "To have the same critical problem we always do when you call me into your office headmaster. A lack of proof. And since I wasn't behind anything that happened you won't find any proof either. So this is, once again, a waste of my time."

"I know it was you Potter!" Snape snapped at him.

"Again you can't because you have no proof. And aren't you always saying what a terrible student I am? Now you're suggesting I somehow got past whatever, probably lethal, security you have around your room and did some kind of magic to make you think you always wore a night gown to breakfast and had feelings for a stuffed bird?"

"Arrogant just like your father." Snape would admit his reasoning wasn't up to his normal standards but still as far as he was concerned he was correct.

"If that is all sir?"

"No Harry it is not." Dumbledore said. "There is the matter of someone tampering with the house points."

"Again I can't help you." Harry said, he was growing more annoyed at Dumbledore treating him like a child. Hadn't the Headmaster learned by now or did he have some problem with his short term memory.

Contrary to Harrys opinion Dumbledore had learned, at least a little. Without any solid or even circumstance proof there was no point in dragging this out. However there was still one thing he could do. "Very well I admit I have no proof tying you to the point's issue. However you were still disrespectful towards Professor Snape during breakfast and will face a weeks' worth of detentions with him for it."

"And the fact I did it to direct his attention away from Neville, who he not only accused without proof but was assaulting?" Harry asked.

"A simple misunderstanding." Dumbledore waved the issue away.

Before Harry could respond the door to the office was thrown open and a very angry Madam Longbottom stormed in. Dumbledore paled, this was not a comforting sight. As a member of the school board she could technically bypass the gargoyle that guarded his office. He made a note to fix that should he survive. "Madam Longbottom, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I am here to speak about an incident that happened this morning where this... man, manhandled my grandson." Madam Longbottom shot a withering glare at Snape. Harry tired not to laugh as Snape's eye flickered to the stuffed vulture on her head.

"Ah yes, well as you can see we are in the middle of a discussion, if you had floo called me…"

"I did, I have been all morning but you have not answered so I was forced to come here myself." She turned her attention from Dumbledore to Harry. "My grandson has told me a great deal about you Mr. Potter. I have to say I am disappointed that you are getting into trouble."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but if it meant helping Neville again I have no problems about getting in trouble." Harry replied, it was fun to watch the horror on Dumbledore's and Snape's faces as he spoke.

"Explain." She demanded.

"Well I don't know what you have heard but this morning Professor Snape came to breakfast dressed in a nightgown and a hat just like yours. From the other professors reactions I guess this wasn't the first time something like this happened. Well he talked to Hagrid a bit, not seeming to realize his hat wasn't alive. Then he, eh, started snogging it." Harry didn't have to fake looking ill at this point. "Then Dumbledore came in. said something about this not being normal and Professor Snape charged at Neville lifting him right out of his seat. Since Neville looked terrified I tried to get the professor's attention on me instead by pointing out that Neville couldn't have had anything to do with it since just last potions class Snape said he was a worthless squib whose father would be ashamed of him."

Snape flinched as Harry spoke and cowered under the glare from Madam Longbottom. Harry pressed on; wanting to finish the story before she went after Snape. "When that didn't work I insulted the professor by calling him a greasy git. He dropped Neville and grabbed me, dragging me to the house counters where he tried to take all the points from Hufflepuff. I don't know what happened but the counter started going up then the hourglass shattered and buried him. I barely got away with a few scratches. Then I was called here and assigned a week's detention with Professor Snape."

"I see." Madam Longbottom's voice was quiet. Anyone who spent time around females recognized the warning signs. "You may disregard those detentions Mr. Potter. If the Headmaster still insists on them I will bring the matter to the school governors. You are dismissed."

Harry nodded and hurried from the office. He could tell Dumbledore and Snape wanted to argue with that decision but both had strong self-preservation instincts. Harry made it down the hall before he began to laugh.

0-O-0

That evening Dumbledore sat relaxing in his tub. He had been forced to actually beg, beg! For Severus's job. It had been humiliating but if Madam Longbottom had gone through with her threat to bring the matter before the board of governors he would have needed to use a number of favors to save his spy. As it was he had been forced to make a number of concessions.

But now he could finally relax. When he had become headmaster he had expanded the traditional claw foot tub several times over. It now boasted over two dozen claws to support its massive size. He had also taken a page from the prefects' bathroom and added several taps. Currently the tub was covered in three feet of bubbles, Dumbledore sat in the middle, cocooned on all sides by the non-popping bubbles. He found that this was one of the places he did his best thinking. A tray of lemon drops floated next to him.

Really he felt that it was just what he needed. He had barely survived the anger of Madam Longbottom, especially when she found out exactly what had happened. He had to wonder if Harry hadn't somehow orchestrated the entire event just to draw the formidable woman to his side. But no, he might be smarter than the average first year but there was no way he could have planned out something like that.

Dumbledore's mind turned back to the problem at hand. On several sheets of water proof parchment sat what he was able to recover from the charm used on the house counters. It was crude; he recognized several pieces from other spells that seemed to have been inserted haphazardly to compensate for one problem or another. Still he had learned over his long life seemingly random pieces of spells, when added together, could do amazing things.

It was a pleasant distraction for the Headmaster to try and complete the charm. And should it lead back to Harry somehow well all the better. If not he should still be able to find whoever had been tampering with the point system and he would turn them over to Severus to help ease the potion masters wounded pride.

Finally he managed to work out the last bit of the equation, but still it didn't make sense to him. Well when in doubt about a spell cast it. He doubted that it would have any real affect. A wave of his wand and he waited. At first nothing, he was just deciding if it would be better to try casting it onto the house counters when he noticed the water was starting to heat up and steam.

For a moment it was... pleasant, then it turned painful. Dumbledore jumped out of the water, the bubbles slowed him for a moment before he reached the side of the tub and stumbled out. His beard was now curly and his wrinkled skin an irritated red. The room quickly filled with steam before he remembered the proper spell to drain the tub. He leaned over and learned another important lesson. Non-popping bubbles were extremely flammable. When they touched the scorching tub they ignited. Dumbledore lost both eyebrows and a foot of beard. What remained was even curlier then before.

House elves were called to air out the room and clean the tub. The parchment he had written the charm equations on might have been water proof but that hadn't managed to save it. The lemon drops had been melted by the heat into a flat disk in the glass bowl.

Dumbledore put on a robe and returned to his desk. What had happened? Had there been some trap inlaid into the spell somewhere? It was certainly complex enough for that. Was the entire incident with the point system a way to make him find and try the charm? An attack on him? Who could have set up something like that? There were certainly enough people who wanted him out of the picture. Could one of them have decided to make their move? It was a distraction that he did not need. At least the coming Yule holiday would offer him a chance to better deal with Harry.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna sat around the Room of Requirements. They had already discussed what had happened with Dumbledore and Snape and were just enjoying being able to cuddle together. Their loving moment was interrupted by a knock on the door of the room. Well really it sounded like something large was repeatedly striking the wall where the door was. They jumped apart and drew their wands. No one was supposed to know about the room, or that they were there. The door was supposed to have disappeared when they entered.

Cautiously, with each girl covering him from the side Harry opened the door and found the golden eyes of Slytherin looking back at him. {{The dark speaker has spoken to me. He wants me to kill again.}}

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and Perfect Lionheart.)


	20. Daddy!

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty: Daddy!

0-O-0

"Who were you ordered to kill?" Hermione asked after Harry had explained what Slytherin said. The door to the Room of Requirements had expanded to allow Slytherin access. The basilisk now rested curled up near the fire.

{{The dark speaker said that on the day the children return from the yule holiday he will return for me. I will be forced to kill a Cerberus that he has been unable to bypass. I will then cause a panic by killing any students I meet returning to my chamber.}} Slytherin explained which Harry one again translated.

"You can't kill Fluffy!" Luna said.

"Ok calm down, nothing will happen for a few weeks so we have time to sort it out." Hermione tried to focus everyone's attention back on the problem. "Slytherin did he actually tell you to do this, order you to? Or did he only explain what he was going to have you do?"

Slytherin thought for a moment. His tongue flicked out and rubbed his snout. {{The dark speaker gave me a single order, wait for his next instructions.}}

"And he didn't say where to wait did he? So what if you weren't in the chamber?" Hermione suggested.

{{And where am I to go? Even now I can feel the dark speaker in the castle. Should he try I fear he could still order me even if I am hidden.}} Slytherin said in an agitated hiss.

"And if you weren't at Hogwarts?" Luna asked. "What if you left the castle?"

{{I do not know.}}

Harry thought for a moment. "What about Potter manor? Slytherin could stay in the basement; there should be plenty of room for him. And with its wards and the distance from Hogwarts there isn't any way Voldemort could still control him right?"

"That might work but we still have the problem of how to get him there. No offence Slytherin but I can't imagine you just going down the road."

{{None taken. When I hunt I stay hidden for a reason.}}

Luna walked around Slytherin, looking at him with a critical eye. "Normally to move a large magical creature you'd hire a team to place it in a magical sleep and transport it like that. Slytherin's size makes that impractical, not that he'd need to be asleep but there's just no discreet way to ship him."

{{I do not imagine I would like being... shipped.}}

"For tonight we can ask the room for a place hidden from Voldemort and where he can't give Slytherin an orders. That should at least buy us time." Harry said.

"What if he knows about the Room of Requirements though?" Luna asked.

"I don't know." Hermione admitted.

{{Well it sounds better than waiting in my chamber for the dark speaker to return.}} Slytherin added in his own opinion.

"Ok so for now Slytherin hides out here. We find a way to get him to Potter Manor. Worse case is I'll take him during the break."

{{I do not like the snow, but to be free of the dark speaker's orders I will tolerate it. How far is your Manor?}} Slytherin asked.

"Eh, a hundred and twenty kilometers, give or take a couple dozen. I think." Harry said.

Slytherin huffed in annoyance, a strange sound coming from a snake, yet alone a sixty foot basilisk. They all left the room and Harry called for a new one. A place to hide Slytherin where Voldemort couldn't command him. When the new door appeared the entered to find a room… filled with junk.

Trunks, broken furniture, piles of parchment, torn sheets and robes. It all looked like a left overs of a magical flea market. The only clear spot was near the door, just large enough for Slytherin. The others peeked in behind him. "Harry what did you ask for?"

"A place to hide Slytherin." Harry said.

{{I think this room has insulted me.}} Slytherin deadpanned.

"Just bear with it for now, we'll figure out a way to get you away from Voldemort." Harry said.

They gathered some of the least broken furniture and arranged a small sitting area near Slytherin. Several ideas were made and discarded. The forbidden forest was out since most of the things in there would want to kill Slytherin, the centaurs especially. But getting the large snake to Potter Manor had its own problems. Namely directions and how he could get there without being seen.

It was early in the morning before they finally returned to their beds, still without a workable plan.

0-O-0

Susan and Hannah went to check Hermione's bed. They had figured out early on that she and Luna would either be up before the other girls or need a wakeup call when they went down for breakfast. As expected Luna's bed was empty, it was a secret that never left the dorms but Luna rarely slept in her own bed. One of the female prefects knew and thought it was adorable.

Sure enough Luna was curled up against Hermione. Susan reached down to wake them when Luna began to mumble Harry's name. They had to hold in their laughs when Hermione said in a sleepy voice. "Stop saying your own name Harry, you aren't that good."

0-O-0

As breakfast reached its height that morning Dumbledore stood and called for their attention. For some reason his beard was over a foot shorter and curly. His red robes gave him a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. "As many of you know yesterday there was an incident that resulted in damage to the house counters. Since then we have discovered someone had placed a powerful confundus on them."

Harry, Hermione and Luna tried not to laugh at how wrong he was. "We have gone through the records of points awarded and deducted. As such Slytherin house now has 540 points."

The cheering from Slytherin was loud; it drowned out the complaints from the other houses. "Gryffindor shall receive 450 points, securing them the current second place."

The lions began to quiet; ninety points could be made up with several months remaining in the school year. They were still in the running. "Next is Ravenclaw with 362 points."

Most of the Ravenclaws quickly did the math and realized that was about where they had been before so stayed quiet. Around the Hufflepuff table a feel of dread settled. How far behind were they going to be? "And finally, Hufflepuff stands at… 26 points."

Outraged cries rose from their table. Dumbledore was finally forced to use a noise maker charm to bring the shouting back under control. "That is enough; the decision on points will stand."

The Headmaster sat down just as the post owls arrived. Harry, Hermione and Luna finished the breakfast among the downcast Hufflepuffs before they left the great hall. They had just reached the staircase when a shout of "Potter!" drew their attention back towards the great hall.

Draco and hurried after them carrying a wood crate, two feet long. They waited for him to reach them. "Draco, what's in the box?"

"I have no idea. My father sent it and said to give it to you." Draco hesitated before he handed it over. He was still livid with his father for impersonating him for the duel. To make matters worse he had lost! Well he owed his father nothing after that stunt. "Whatever it is be careful. Father is not known for being kind to those he has lost to."

Harry carefully took the crate. Draco turned back to the great hall. A quick glance between them and they made their way to the nearest empty classroom. Harry quickly set the crate on a desk and stepped back. "So, anyone want to bet what's inside?"

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he sent you the diary? Having it possess Harry Potter would be a fitting punishment in his mind for Hermione beating Draco." Luna suggested.

"I doubt we are that lucky." Hermione said, her wand moving in a complex pattern over the crate as she looked for traps. "Besides plenty of people saw Draco get the crate and then hand it to Harry. No if he was going to send Harry the diary he'd do it through some non-traceable means. Maybe as an anonymous Christmas present."

"So what do you think is in there?" Harry asked.

"No idea, I don't detect any traps, no hexes or curses. But there is magic." Hermione said with a frown. There was definitely magic there but she couldn't identify it.

"Guess I better open it, stand back." Harry said as he took a few steps back. A quick opening charm followed by a levitation one saw the lid lifted off the crate and set it on the table. Cautiously they approached the wooden box. Inside they found…

Dobby, sipping from a grape juice box. His eyes grew wide as he looked up at them. "You, you is great Harry Potter. You is to be Dobby's new master?"

Harry couldn't help but smile at his old friend. "Yes Dobby I am."

"Dobby is honored to serve Great Harry Potter sir!"

Luna looked at his curiously for a moment. "Dobby? Where did you get that juice box?"

Dobby hesitated for a moment before he ran towards the wall to bang his head with a shout of "Bad Dobby!"

Harry snatched him before he could reach his destination. "Whoa hang on, why do you think you need to punish yourself?"

"Oh! Dobby is bad elf, Dobby is steal little bad master's juice before Dobby is being sent away!" Dobby wailed.

"So this is Draco's?" Luna asked as she picked up the clearly muggle drink. "Does he know it's made by non-magical people?"

Dobby nodded. "Oh yes, when he is being baby he is being very fussy. Mistress is telling us to try whatever we can to settle him. Besides strong magic his juice is only thing Dobby be finding to calm him."

"I'm surprised his father allowed it." Hermione commented. She couldn't see Lucius allowing a muggle drink in his house even if it was the only thing keeping a baby Draco from throwing a fit.

"Bad old master is not knowing. Mistress is allowing it, but when bad old master is around we is putting it in goblet. Little bad master is not liking that as much as from boxy." Dobby explained.

Harry tried to hold down his laughter. "Well that's news. Alright Dobby first order of business. You are not allowed to punish yourself."

If possible Dobby's eyes widened further. After a moment of shocked silence Luna walked over and poked one of Dobby's ears. "This is where you say 'yes sir, great Harry Potter sir.'"

"Yes sir! Great Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby said automatically.

"Good. Now next, how's a galleon a week sound for your pay?" Harry couldn't help but chuckle at Dobby's gob smacked expression. This was probably the strangest day of his life.

"You, you is going to _pay_ Dobby?"

"I am. You are also free to leave my service whenever you want."

"Dobby not be wanting to leave!" Dobby said with panic in his voice.

"Alright but the option is still open to you. Now are you ready to bond?" Harry asked.

Bonding a house elf to a person was simple and only required a quick vow by the person and elf. It was a little talked about fact that elves could only access their magic cores when bonded, the stronger the bond and the more powerful the one they bonded with the more of their magic they could access. Dobby blinked as the bond took and magic flooded him. "Great Master Harry Potter Sir has much magic. He must be amazing with a wand."

Luna giggled. "Hermione and I have always thought he was."

Harry ignored Luna's attempt to corrupt Dobby. "Alright Dobby next, anything Luna or Hermione say is the same as coming from me. We don't really have anything for you to do right now, Luna will write to her father after classes and you can go help him if you want."

"Dobby is understanding!"

"One more thing Dobby, Exactly why were you in the crate?" Luna asked.

"Bad old master is say he is going to work Dobby before I is get new master but mistress is saying to just be getting rid of Dobby. Bad old master is telling Dobby to pack Dobby in box. Dobby not be knowing how long I be in box so I is taking juice for the trip." Dobby admitted. It was strange to him, when he was bonded to Lucius, Dobby could always tell when he was about to be punished. It was a feeling he got through the bond. But now all the bond was telling him was that the great Harry Potter was amused. This would take a great deal of getting used to.

0-O-0

Dumbledore watched as young Malfoy received a large wood crate, then left the hall and gave it to Harry. He had tried to reach Harry and his friends before they could open the crate but had been waylaid by angry students and professors complaining about the distribution of points. By the time he had been able to free himself Harry had disappeared. A light probe of young Malfoys mind showed that he didn't know what was in the box and Dumbledore wasn't willing to risk going deeper.

As the bell for the first class rang he resigned himself to having Harry come to his office again for a meeting to find out what was in the crate. Now when would Severus be available?

0-O-0

History of Magic was just as boring the second time through as it was the first. But this time Hermione fully agreed their time could be better spent and they worked on assignments from other classes while rest of the class caught up on their sleep.

The paper airplane flew in and circled Binns several times. Even passing though his head. Unable to gain his attention it began buzzing the students in the front row. The paper became tangled in one of the girl's hair; she swatted at it and glared around the room. Then she noticed the writing on it. "Excuse me, Professor Binns?"

"Yes Miss Bob?"

"It's Bobbins sir."

"Rob." Binns said.

"Er, right. I think the Headmaster wants to speak with Harry Potter."

"There's no one in this class with that name. You, Pinnywinkle, go see what Dibby wants would you?" Binns pointed towards Harry.

"Yes sir." Harry packed his things and stepped out of the room. Instead of the Headmaster's office though he went to an unused room just down the hall. "Dobby."

With a pop Dobby appeared eager for his first job under the Great Harry Potter. "Yes sir!"

"I need you to take a message to Professor Sprout. She should be in the green houses, don't let anyone but her see you alright?"

"Yes sir!"

0-O-0

Sprout was explaining to her fourth year class how to repot a Ginger Snapping Turtle when a house elf caught her attention from the side of potting supplies. It made a motion to be quiet and gestured for her to step outside. "Timothy, start handing out the bags of potting mix, the rest of you keep your fingers away from their mouths! I'll be back in a moment."

She stepped out as several of the students eyed the two headed plants with distrust. The house elf was waiting by a pile of mulched plants. "Can I help you with something?"

"Oh yes Miss Planty. I have message from Great Harry Potter Sir! He is wanting you to know what mister Goaty is calling him to his office again and he is not being happy that Goaty is always waiting until you is having class to call him." Dobby said, bouncing on his feet.

It took a moment for Sprout to work out what she had just been told. She frowned as she realized what it meant. "Thank you. I'll go take care of it."

0-O-0

Harry walked as slow as he dared towards Dumbledore's office to give Sprout as much time as he could to get there. But there was still no sign of his head of house when he reached the gargoyle and waited for it to open. Unfortunately he didn't have to wait long.

"Ah Harry, please come in. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked.

"No thank you sir." Harry said as he looked around. Everything in the office was just as it always was. Same big desk, same little chair for Harry. Same portraits on the wall, same Snape in the same corner. For a moment Harry wondered if it was really Snape or just some life sized replica. No wait it sneered at him. Well he supposed no one would want to make a replica of Snape anyways.

"Now Harry I was hoping you could tell me what was in that package you received from young Malfoy this morning." Dumbledore said.

"I could." Harry replied.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Enough Potter, tell the Headmaster what he wants to know." Snape ordered.

"But I already did." Harry pretended to be confused by his outburst.

"You most certainly did not."

"Yes I did, he asked if I could tell him what was in the box. And I can."

Dumbledore resisted the urge to slam his head onto his desk. One meeting with Harry that went his way, that was all he wanted. "Then please tell me what was in the box, Harry."

"No sir."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't believe you have any right to know what is in a student's mail."

"As Headmaster I am entitled to investigate any matter which may pose a threat to Hogwarts or my students." Dumbledore said in what he called his mage voice, deep, ancient and wise. At least he thought so.

"So you believe the box contained a threat to the school?"

"Yes so I need you to tell me what you received." Dumbledore said, something in his mind warned him that Harry wasn't suddenly about to decide to cooperate.

"I will be sure to let Draco know any mail received from his father is considered a threat so he can bring it directly to you next time." Harry replied.

"Potter! Answer the question!" Snape demanded.

"Again no, Dumbledore has no reason to suspect the package was a threat so I have no reason to answer him. And I'm sure Madam Longbottom and Mr. Malfoy would both agree."

Dumbledore became ill at the thought of both of them coming after him at once. Well there was a different road to take. "Then I demand to know what was in the box and have it turned over to me immediately as your magical guardian."

"Wasn't mine." Harry said.

"Excuse me, what?"

"The box wasn't mine so that won't work. It was for Luna; I was just being polite and carrying it for her." Harry explained. Since Dumbledore wasn't her magical guardian he had no authority to demand the information.

"And if I were to say I didn't believe you?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Well then we would reach the same impasse we seem to always hit, your lack of proof. You can't prove the box is a threat to the school and you can't prove it was mine." As Harry spoke he kept watch on Snape from the corner of her eye, the potion master looked ready to jump Harry and throttle him.

"Harry, I…" Dumbledore frowned as his wards alerted him to a visitor. His mind ran through the scenarios, each of them were bad, the ones where he didn't let her in were the worst. Reluctantly he called out. "Come in!"

Professor Sprout stormed into the office. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"Meeting with a student." Dumbledore replied evenly.

"I see, and what was so important you felt the need to pull him from class."

"I'm not at liberty to say…"

"He wants to read my mail because it is apparently a threat to the school." Harry happily supplied.

Snape, for once had done the smart thing and folded back into his corner. Dealing with one irate woman was enough this week. Seeing no help from Severus, Dumbledore tried to figure out a way to end the meeting with as few shots fired as he could.

Harry began to explain the meeting to Professor Sprout while Dumbledore was left floundering. It only got worse for him. When Harry reached the part when Dumbledore said he had the right to Harry's mail as his magical guardian Sprout laughed. There was nothing pleasant about it. "You know very well you are no longer Mr. Potter's magical guardian! He has been awarded to the court until the whole matter can be sorted out."

Well that was news to Harry; he couldn't hide his grin at Dumbledore's pale face. Yeah he definitely didn't want Harry to know that. "If that's all can I be excused? I can still make transfiguration if I hurry."

"One moment dear and I'll escort you so Minerva doesn't get in a tizzy. Just wait outside; I need to have a quick chat about meeting with members of my house when I am unavailable." Sprout said with a predatory gleam in her eye.

Harry hurried from the office. Not wanting to be a witness to whatever Sprout was about to do. Five minutes later she walked down from the Headmasters office looking much happier. Harry fell into step beside her.

"I've spoken with Albus and informed him that he is not to interrupt your classes again unless it is urgent."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem. Now I won't tell the headmaster but for my own curiosity. What _was_ in the box?" Sprout asked. The glint in her eye reminded Harry of Hermione when she was hunting down a piece of information.

He considered for a moment if he should tell her. Well Dobby wasn't a secret. "A house elf."

"A… house elf?"

"Yes Ma'am. Luna was worried about leaving her father alone this year, and while we were talking she mentioned house elves. So we bet Draco that Hermione could beat him in a duel. Flitwick oversaw the duel and Hermione won so Draco owed us a house elf." Harry explained.

"I see, and what would you three have owed him had Miss Granger lost?"

"I would have had to be Draco's friend for a while."

"That was very Slytherin of you, Harry."

"Thank you. The Sorting hat did want to put me in Slytherin but I didn't want to be separated from Hermione and Luna." Harry said.

"I understand. Was it by any chance the house elf that delivered your message?"

"Yup, that was Dobby. He's hanging around to help the castle elves until Luna can write her father."

"Well it was very considerate of you to think about a friend's family."

When they reached the transfiguration classroom and entered the first words out of Professor McGonagall's mouth were. "Mr. Potter, what have you done _now_?"

Harry was taken aback; certainly she hadn't been nearly as friendly towards him this time through but she hadn't been this hostile either. Before he could answer Professor Sprout stepped forward to defend him. "Harry has done nothing wrong. Albus was meeting with him to provide information about his relatives and it ran a bit long."

The transfiguration teacher gave them a skeptical look but nodded her head. "Very well, take your seat. I'm sure Miss Granger or Miss Lovegood can provide you with notes on what you have missed."

0-O-0

That evening after dinner the trio sat around the common room finishing their latest assignments while most of the house grumbled about how they couldn't win the house cup now. "It's all Potter's fault!"

Harry's head shot up and found the speaker. Ron had made the proclamation from the center of the room. On either side of him was Zacharias Smith and Justin Flitch-fletchley, both boys seemed to have developed a friendship with the annoying redhead. Harry sighed; best get this over with before their ideas took hold. "How do you figure that?"

"Easily, after Snape dropped the squib he went for you, took you to the counter and it broke. Then you get called into the Headmaster's office right after and again today. Seems pretty clear that you cost us all those points." Ron smiled as he saw several other Hufflepuffs considering his words.

"First never call Neville a squib. I'm willing to bet he has more magic than you." They looked shocked by Harry's statement and Ron almost went for his wand. "Secondly Snape went after me because I insulted him to get him to drop Neville. Thirdly, there is no proof I had anything to do with the counter breaking unless you think I can cast a confundus powerful enough to trick Hogwarts. I will admit it is because I am in this house that we got the lowest amount of points awarded. But that's only because Snape hates my family and Dumbledore is trying to sooth his ego by indirectly punishing me."

"You think everything is about you don't you Potter, why would Snape hate you other then you're always trying to get attention?" Zachariah asked.

"Because I am a constant reminder that my mum picked my dad to be with instead of Snape."

"Uh Harry?" Tonks asked hesitantly. "What are you talking about?"

"Snape and my mum were friends before Hogwarts. He was the one who told her she was a witch. My mum wrote that even as a kid he had a superiority complex as big as any pure bloods…"

"Wait Snape isn't a pureblood?" someone cried.

"Nope, pureblood mother disinherited for marrying a muggle. Anyways my dad and his friends liked to prank Snape because he was always so full of himself. They grew out of it but Snape never did and convinced himself the only reason my mum married my dad was because he was a pureblood. So since I look like my dad I am a constant reminded to him of everything he hates." Harry explained.

"So it is your fault we're so far behind." Ron said with a smug smile.

"In part. But it isn't like we would have won the house cup anyways. At least not without Dumbledore himself stepping in. Snape takes at least twice as many points as the other professors give. He's made a mockery of the point system since he started here. I looked it up, since Snape became a professor Slytherin has lost the house cup only once and only then because Dumbledore awarded points at the feast. Snape uses the point system to stroke his own ego." Harry finished.

Most of the Hufflepuffs had thoughtful looks on their faces. It made sense to them. And considering how Snape behaved they could all believe it. Ron wanted try and turn them on Harry again but even he could see the way the mood had turned and gave it up as a lost cause. For now.

Harry returned to his work wondering how long it would take the twins to finish his request for Ron.

0-O-0

Any reservations Dobby had about Harry Potter being a great master flew out the window that evening when he followed him and his friends to a hidden room after curfew. Now they sat around talking with an owl, cat, the Sorting Hat, a phoenix and the largest snake Dobby had ever seen.

Dobby stayed silent and invisible as they discussed way to get the snake to Potter Manor. Finally Dobby made his presence known. "Dobby can be helping great Harry Potter sir."

"How's that? Slytherin is too big to pop over to the manor, isn't he?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, much too big even for many elves. No Dobby can be going with Slither and making sure he doesn't get lost. I can also make sure no one is seeing him or finding snaky trail in the snow." Dobby said excited at the prospect of helping them.

"How long do you think it'd take to get to Potter Manor Dobby?" Hermione asked.

"That is depending on how fast big snakey can go." Dobby replied as a gleam in his eye.

0-O-0

After talking it over, and asking the room for a map, Hermione and Luna worked out that it would take them between a week and twelve days to reach Potter Manor depending on the weather and what they ran into while they traveled. The route they planned nearly doubled the distance Dobby and Slytherin would have to travel but kept them away from most of the towns and main roads. Hathfojd suggested asking the room to make a passage as close to Potter Manor as it could; while the room could make passages, it couldn't make them into other people's homes, much to the time traveler's disappointment. The passage should at least be far enough away to see them safely out of Hogwarts.

Once Slytherin and Dobby were on their way the others snuck back to their proper places. Safely in the Hufflepuff common room Luna stretched out on a couch. "Another day and another mischief managed."

"At least we won't need to worry about Riddle using Slytherin against us." Hermione said.

Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write a letter. Luna perked up and watched him. "Who are you writing to?"

"Madam Bones, remember how Sprout said Dumbledore isn't my magical guardian anymore? And I know the Dursleys aren't, so I'm hoping she knows who is. Then I can ask for permission to go home with you for Christmas." Harry explained as she finished his note and gave it to Hedwig. While she could move around in the blink of an eye she still loved a good flight.

"Oh good, daddy is excited to have us all over." Luna said happily.

"My parents are excited about experiencing a magical Christmas as well." Hermione added, her parents had leapt on the offer to come and spend Christmas day at Luna's. It was shaping up to be a wonderful holiday.

0-O-0

The next morning everyone was busy eating their breakfast when Snape strolled in and took his seat. However instead of a normal breakfast a large egg appeared. The great hall grew silent as everyone turned toward the head table.

The egg rocked violently before the top cracked and pulled away. From the shell popped a baby vulture with long greasy hair and a break that hooked similarly to Snape's. "Papa!"

The great hall burst into laughter as the vulture chick flapped its wings and tried to climb out of the egg. Snape raised his wand to deal with it. Harry, Hermione and Luna held their breath in anticipation. They'd loaded the vulture with Fred and Greg's firework mixture. As soon as Snape tried to vanish it the vulture would zoom around the great hall.

What they didn't count on was Snape setting the vulture on fire instead and ignited the full mixture at once. The vulture shot out of the egg and ricocheted off the walls and ceiling, leaving scorch marks where it hit. Students screamed and ducked as the flaming vulture ping ponged around them, several ran for the exit. Most ducked under their house tables that shook every time the vulture hit them.

The professors tried to stop it, the few spells that managed to hit the vulture only caused part of the firework mixture to break off and explode. Sparks rained down on the students. One pass came close to the head table, Dumbledore twisted out of the way as it passed him, hit the back wall and shot towards him again. Unable to raise a shield he ducked down.

The vulture flew over Dumbledore's head, singing his hair again, then slammed into a surprised Snape with enough force to knock him onto the Slytherin table. The flaming vulture finally ran out of steam and lay smoldering on the injured potions master.

Dumbledore climbed back to his feet. His mind working furiously; the vulture had targeted him, he knew it. This was another attempt on him. And by making it look like a prank against Severus, a person Dumbledore had supported when Voldemort fell, they were sending him a message. Absently he cast an Aguamenti charm on Severus to put out his robes. His break suddenly looked very full.

0-O-0

Two Days later Dan Granger sat at his table reading the paper when he chuckled to himself. "Listen to this. A sheep herder up in Scotland claims a giant snake ate his flock of sheep."

0-O-0

Dobby frowned at the muggle paper he had taken from a trashcan. "You is just having to have a snack isn't you?"

Slytherin looked sleepily at Dobby before he burped up another wool ball.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and Perfect Lionheart.)


	21. Peevesy Games

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty One: Peevesy Games

0-O-0

Judge Cortus looked at the letter lying on his desk. He was an old man and had spent most of his life serving the wizarding world. He had held many positions from court scribe to custodian to judge, in that order. He was the senior judge of the five that served Great Britain, the only higher legal authority than his was the Wizengamot itself. But it was rare for them to become involved in cases. The last time being when the Death Eaters were sentenced after the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

His career had been quiet over the last decade, between him and the four other judges they only needed to sit two or three times a week. Dealing mostly in broken contracts and the thugs brought in by the DMLE. Now it looked like that quiet phase was going out the window. Merlin it was about time.

His old friend Amelia had approached him with the Potter case and let him know that it was far more complicated than it seemed. A major reason being that Sirius Black, the boy's godfather looked to be innocent after all. Normally after so long around the dementors that wouldn't matter. When you're gone you're gone. But the reports from those sent to retrieve him and move him to another secure facility had said that he was insulting and questioned their love lives and sexual preferences. According to reports from before he went to Azkaban he hadn't changed at all which was almost beyond belief.

With Black's pending case and the inevitable custody request if he was found innocent Cortus had suspended custody of Harry until it could be sorted out. As far as the law was concerned any decisions that needed to be made for Harry fell to him.

He had sent the boy a letter letting him know about the change in his status and received a response. Now this letter that had just been delivered a snowy owl, one that was watching him with a frightening amount of intelligence and eyeing his turkey sandwich, led him to believe the first letter was a fake.

Picking up the new letter he read it again.

_Judge Cortus,_

_ Hello, my name is Harry Potter. I recently learned that I have become a ward of the court until such a time that a guardian is appointed. I asked my housemate Susan Bones to write her aunt asking who I would need to contact for permission to stay with my friend Luna over the holidays. She provided me with your name. So I am writing to get permission to stay with my friend Luna Lovegood and visit my other friends over the coming holiday._

_Thank you,_

_Harry Potter._

Cortus compared the writing of the letters and found the first to be similar but different. He did not enjoy being made a fool and vowed to figure out what was going on. The best way to do that, in his mind, was to meet with Harry himself. He quickly penned a response to Harry and gave it to the white owl.

0-O-0

Snape carried the cauldron of expired potion ingredients into his hidden room. The potion pit gurgled below him. He had been forced to purchase several rune stones and place them around the pit's edge to keep the fumes from spreading.

The slop at the bottom of the pit turned slowly with a self-contained current. Snape watched it almost fondly, he felt as if the potions could sense that the Potter brat was in the castle. Oh how he longed to throw the child in and watch him suffer in the potion. Of course he would document the results, for research. Perhaps he'd throw those girls in first. Let Potter suffer watching whatever happened to them before he joined in their agony.

With a wistful sigh he levitated the cauldron over the pit and tipped the spoiled ingredients in. The potion began to froth and foam. "Soon, soon Potter will suffer."

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna sat in the Room of Requirements studying and working on their own projects. They were just about to finish for the night when a worn looking Dobby popped into the room. "I is sorry it is taking so long to get sheepy eater to your home Harry Potter sir. Sheepy eater is taking many midnight snacks so I is having to change our route around sheepy homes."

"Slytherin was eating sheep? How many did he get?" Hermione asked.

"384 before Dobby is stopping him." Dobby informed them.

Harry's eye twitched. "I know Slytherin is big but that's…"

"Impressive?" Luna suggested.

"Disturbing." Harry finished. "Do you remember where he got the sheep from? I guess I'll have to figure out a way to pay them back."

"Dobby is taking care of that sir. Dobby is putting up wards to protect other sheep from predators and weather. Dobby is thinking that it be evening out, eventually."

"I guess that works." Harry said after a few moments thought. "Good work."

"Thank you great Harry Potter sir!"

"Dobby, I wrote Daddy and he is expecting you so you can head over whenever you want. Oh and could you see if that thing I asked him to order has arrived?" Luna asked.

"Yes Missy Lovey." Dobby said before he vanished.

0-O-0

Dobby reappeared behind Xeno who was hunched over working on the latest issue of the Quibbler. He spun around to look at Dobby. "So you're Dobby I take it?"

"Yes sir." Dobby said with a bow.

"Excellent! Hmm." Xeno stood and walked around Dobby examining him from all angles. "First thing we need to do is get you some proper clothes."

Dobby almost choked. "You is wanting to give Dobby clothes?"

"Yes, but since I'm not your master there shouldn't be a problem. And we can't have you going around in a dirty tea towel or pillowcase or tailored suit. We need something special."

After several minutes of thought Dobby decided the strange man was correct. Only Harry Potter could free him. "Dobby supposes that it would be alright then."

"Wonderful! I have several sets of robes that were shredded beyond repair on an expedition but I think we can salvage enough for you to use." Xeno lead the way to his room.

Dobby followed behind nervously. Harry Potter had told him to obey Grangy and Lovey as if they were him and Lovey had told him to listen to her father so he was technically following orders, and he had always wanted to wear something better.

0-O-0

Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had discovered that Septima had also made a copy of the charm placed on the point system and scoffed at it. As she put it 'it looks like a chimp threw his fecal matter at a list of spells that were then torn apart and glued back together.' He was not of the same opinion, not anymore. After hours of studying and testing he had figured out that the charm would only work if you were in the water.

While his love of working on Arithmancy while in the tub was not well known it was conceivable that someone discovered his habit and used it to their advantage. The supposed attack on Snape was another clever ruse, making it appear to be a prank on a disliked teacher was the perfect cover for an attack on Dumbledore himself. Had his reaction been just a bit slower that vulture would have hit his head. Dumbledore was willing to bet at that point it would have exploded.

It also sent a message; someone was upset that Snape had gotten off.

Whoever Dumbledore was up against was good; either plan could have been written off as an accident. But he wasn't the Headmaster for nothing. He saw through the plan, someone was out to get him. Unless these had just been warnings which suggested that the assailant was not yet trying.

With a deep sigh Dumbledore set the papers aside. He would need to deal with this but he also couldn't put off his plans for Harry. While most of the students were away it would be the perfect time to convince Harry that he was acting in his best interest. Perhaps he could have a few of the ghosts keep an eye on him, children loved ghosts. His original plan to keep the Weasley children at Hogwarts over the holiday had been scrapped because of Ronald's actions towards Harry and his friends.

Maybe the best idea now would be the twins. He could let slip that Harry's father was a Marauder. While the identity of the members was well guarded almost everyone knew of the group of pranksters. Yes that plan had promise.

He ran a hand through his shortened hair. Now if Severus would only hurry along with that hair growth potion. While he could have bought them, by having Severus make the potion Hogwarts would pay for it.

0-O-0

Theodore tapped his quill against the parchment as he thought. His latest plan was amazing, if not for the difficulty in acquiring the needed potion. It was beyond his current skills and while Snape could make it his head of house was not a person that Theodore wanted to share this victory with.

He hadn't been too concerned since Potter had been dragged from the great hall by Snape but that was long enough ago that he felt it was time to put his plan into action. It would humiliate and embarrass Potter; it might even drive him from the school. It was perfect, cunning, and untraceable to him. And on hold until he could find this damn potion!

With just a few days before the holiday break his best bet now looked to be finding the potion once he went home. His greatest regret about that was that it wouldn't be ready for the welcome back feast. That would have been the icing on the cake.

0-O-0

"Dumbledore thinks what?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"He thinks someone is out to kill him." Hathfojd said.

"Why? I mean yes the vulture could have hurt him but that was an accident. Isn't he being a bit paranoid?" Hermione asked.

"Well he was almost boiled alive as well. He thinks it is all connected. Plus he does have a swollen ego."

"Was he this paranoid the last time around?" Hermione asked.

"Possibly. When Draco Malfoy was trying to kill him he found the attempts amusing. But only because he knew about them beforehand." Hathfojd said. He wasn't going to admit he'd spent as much time as possible asleep. Headmasters tended to get boring after the first few hundred years.

Hathfojd's musing was interrupted by Dobby. The house elf was wearing a small robe in a camouflaged pattern, except instead of muted greens and browns it consisted of Canary Yellow and Kill Me Orange. Hathfojd took one look at Dobby and proved that he did have limited mobility when he threw himself from the table with a cry.

"Dobby, did Daddy give you those robes?" Luna asked.

"Oh yes! He is having the most wonderful robes and giving some to Dobby! But because he is not Dobby's master there is no problem." Dobby said.

"Eh, great. So long as you like them." Harry wondered if a fondness for unnatural colors would replace his love of socks. He picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it back on the table.

"I is, oh and Miss Lovey your father is sending you the package you is ordering." Dobby snapped his fingers and a large box appeared behind him.

Luna clapped with excitement. "Wonderful! Harry, Hermione help me."

They watched as Luna opened the crate and rolled out a large heavy looking leather ball. It came up to Lunas waist. Hermione traded a look with Harry, not understanding what Luna was up to until she was finished was normal, but still annoying. "Luna, what exactly are we helping you with?"

"Fluffy's Christmas present. We're going to enchant it a bit." Luna explained.

Hathfojd huffed before the turned to Fawkes. "Speaking of present, why don't you go get that?"

Fawkes bobbed his head before he disappeared. A moment later he returned with a crudely wrapped package. Fawkes nudged the package towards Harry. The Sorting Hat snorted. "Dumbledore decided not to return this to you, but since he had no right to it we aren't bound by the school to listen to him. The burnt chicken insisted on wrapping it."

Harry unwrapped the package to find his invisibility cloak. "Thank you, I was wondering if Dumbledore would send it to me this time. And I think the wrapping was brilliant Fawkes. Thank you both."

Fawkes trilled proudly. Hathfojd snorted again. "Yes well you still had bad gas last night you burned pigeon. You might want to check your cloak, I'm sure the Headmaster has put some kind of charms on it."

With a nod Harry laid the invisibility cloak out on the table. He, Hermione and Luna began to cast diagnostic charms on it. Hermione was the one to sum up their findings. "That's odd. The arithmancy for the cloak is in a number base I've never seen before. Luna?"

"No idea, but is a big number though." Luna frowned in confusion. A very big number.

"Well at least it makes it easier to see what Dumbledore added, I guess he's responsible for the normal spells." Harry counted no less than seven tracking charms of different types as well as a powerful revealing charm.

Thankfully their experience hunting Death Eaters meant they had gotten very good at the counter charms needed for most tracking charms. Still it took the three of them working together to remove each of the tracking charms. The revealing charm on the other hand snapped when they tried to remove it.

The spell burst releasing enough magic to push them to the floor. Harry tumbled into a pile of books. Hermione and Luna dug him out while Hathfojd and Fawkes laughed as Dobby tried to help; his first attempt was too strong and caused more books to cascade onto Harry. A check of the invisibility cloak showed the snapped spell hadn't damaged it.

Luna crouched down so her face was level with Dobby's. "Dobby could you go get the two wrapped presents in my trunk?"

"I can." A few moments later Dobby returned with the wrapped packages. "Here you are."

"Thank you. Since we're giving gifts early." Luna set one of the packages before Fawkes.

The phoenix eyed the bright paper before he tore through it with his beak. He trilled a joyful song upon seeing several dozen match boxes. Hermione walked over and ran her hand along his head. "I had my parents send a couple different types. I have no idea if they taste different but I thought you'd like the variety."

Crookshanks approached the pile of matches slowly; his paw slinked out towards his prize. Fawkes head whipped around and snapped at the kitten. Crookshanks jumped back and hid behind Luna. "_Bad minion burny bird!"_

Luna bent down and scoped up the agitated Crookshanks. "If you didn't want to get caught you should have been invisible."

"_I forgot."_ Crookshanks mumbled.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her familiar's antics. "Moving on we made this for you Hathfojd in case you ever get bored."

She unwrapped the small wooden plate they'd carved the runes into and used a sticking charm to attach it to the Sorting Hat. Another charm and it blended into the hats fabric. "This was Harry's idea by the way."

"Hmm, so what does it do?"

"It will simulate several dozen scents." Hermione said with a hint of distaste in her voice.

"Including farts, rotten fish, spoiled eggs and well you get the idea." Harry said with a smile. The idea the Sorting Hat filling the Headmasters office with smells to drive the old man crazy was priceless.

"Oh really?" Hathfojd spun around to face Fawkes. "Payback time!"

Fawkes trilled.

"Fine I'll wait until after you've eaten your matches. Let it never be said I have no Christmas spirit." Hathfojd said. "Oh and on a similar note may I make a request? I would like for you to purchase some petrol for Fawkes."

"Eh, why?" Hermione asked. Flammable liquids and a fire bird didn't sound like the best combination.

"Muggle petrol is like alcohol to magical fire creatures such as phoenixes and dragons. And Fawkes is quiet fun when he is drunk." Hathfojd explained.

Fawkes got a wistful look on his face. Hathfojd laughed. "Yes, those were good times."

"We'll see what we can do." Harry promised.

Hathfojd nodded before Fawkes took him and the matches away. They spent almost an hour enchanting the leather ball for Fluffy before Luna asked for a door to his room. The three headed dog growled when he saw Harry and Hermione until Luna convinced him they were alright.

Fluffy sniffed his way around them, then turned to face Crookshanks. Crookshanks backed up until he was against the wall. When Fluffy's nose was only a foot away he snapped. "_Sit!"_

To everyone's surprise Fluffy did. Crookshanks looked the most shocked. "_Finally a minion that knows how to obey me."_

0-O-0

Lucius Malfoy strolled along the docks, a look of revulsion on his face. He despised muggles and their metal ships. Still he was determined to win this year. Every Christmas he and a few associates would get together for a friendly competition. Who could cause to most trouble for the muggles. Sure killing them was fun but setting up something simple and watching the results was also enjoyable. Such as cutting the break lines for a truck as it approached a hill.

Whoever caused the most destruction would win the prize, this year a particularly fine bottle of Gutrot Gin. Normally he would never sully himself with something called Gutrot, however this particular bottle had a very attractive history. It was fatal to muggles, of course they'd been forced to stop production when a fine wizard had taken to inviting important muggles over for a drink and killed them with the alcoholic beverage. The few bottles that remained were very valuable and prized among the proper kind of wizard. Malfoy had decided that sinking a ship would be just the thing to see the bottle in his hands by New Years. Not that he'd drink it then, such a bottle deserved to be saved for a special occasion.

As he walked Malfoy spotted just what he was looking for, some type of fishing vessel. Malfoy approached the ramp that lead onto the ship and spotted a deckhand. "You, my son has expressed an interest on working on a vessel similar to this. Could I perhaps have a moment to examine your fine craft?"

He could have just cursed the man but that was against the rules, they weren't allowed to directly curse anyone in this game. More the shame but it did make things interesting.

Paul looked over the man, any son of his was probably worthless but Paul was friendly and invited Malfoy up with a wave. "Sure, come take a look around."

"Thank you." Malfoy liked to see what he was working with first hand, perhaps a discreet charm on the engines so they'd ram the docks next time they came in?

They walked around the craft; it wasn't until they reached the wheel that Malfoys plan came to a stop. Framed on the console was a piece of rubber with protection runes on it. Paul followed his gaze. "Interesting huh? That's the remains of a balloon that got caught in our lines a couple months ago, we've had amazing luck since then. When it finally deflated we decided to frame it up."

"Charming." Malfoy said. No one could be stupid enough to believe such a story. Clearly this man was someone of lesser blood and that piece of trash was his way to warn off other wizards. Malfoy had to assume that he had been recognized. "Well I think I shall be going, thank you for your time."

"No problem." Paul said with a cheerful wave. He had no idea his ship had been saved once again.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna got up early on the day they were returning home. They ate an early breakfast then used an empty classroom to check themselves and their things for tracking charms. Several dozen were located before they called Dobby to have him check. He found three more on Harry's things.

Hermione and Luna each cast several charms on themselves and Harry, along with their things meant to confuse any tracking or locations charms they had missed. As well as anything else Dumbledore might have tried to slip onto them.

As sure as they could be that they were free of foreign charms they walked towards the main doors to head down to the train station. Filtch was standing guard by the doors with the list of students allowed to leave. They were just walking past him when his hand shot out and grabbed Harry, only half expecting something prevented them from hexing the man on the spot. "Trying to sneak out Potter?"

"No sir, I'd like to think if I was sneaking out I'd do a better job of it. I put my name down on the list to go home and I have permission to leave." Harry explained calmly.

"Name's not on my list so you ain't leaving." Filtch shoved Harry back into the castle.

Holding their tempers they walked back into the castle and towards the Headmaster's office. Thankfully Hathfojd had been supplying them with the password every time Dumbledore changed it, as he put it to 'annoy the old goat.'

Hermione and Luna agreed to wait in the hall while Harry spoke with Dumbledore in case he started acting strange after meeting with the Headmaster. Harry stood in front of the gargoyle. "Twisted Tarts."

The statue moved aside and Harry walked up the stairs, a dozen scenarios running through his mind. Harry took a deep breath and knocked on the office door. "Come in."

If Dumbledore was surprised to see Harry there was no sign of it on his face. "Hello Mr. Potter, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes sir, there seems to be a problem with the list of students to go home. My name was removed from it." Harry said.

"There is no problem I removed your name because I did not feel it was safe for you to leave the castle." Dumbledore explained as if talking to a particularly dim child.

"I see, so you won't let me leave even though I have permission from Judge Cortus to go?"

That did provoke a reaction from Dumbledore, his face paled dramatically. On the shelf Hathfojd did his best to keep from laughing. "I was not aware of that Harry; still I feel it would be a bad idea to allow you to leave at this time. I will of course speak with Judge Cortus about this matter."

"I see, well thank you for explaining your reasoning Headmaster." Harry said dejectedly.

"Of course my boy. Cheer up I am sure you will enjoy your holiday greatly."

"I hope so sir." Harry left his office; in the hall he motioned for Hermione and Luna to follow him to an empty classroom.

"Well how'd it go?" Hermione asked.

"He said you couldn't leave I bet, for your own good." Luna added.

"Yup. So Miss Hogwarts a History can he actually keep me here?" Harry asked.

Hermione snort. "I doubt anyone could keep you here against your will. But legally no, in fact there are specific rules against it. I think they were made so the Headmaster couldn't hold students hostage." Hermione explained.

"Well I suppose it's my duty then to escape then." Harry said. "But first to make sure he didn't somehow manage to slip another tracking charm onto me."

Amazingly Dumbledore had somehow managed to place another charm. Harry would grudgingly admit to being impressed if asked. "Alright you two head down to the train, I'll be down shortly, after I figure out what to do with this charm."

"Don't be long. You know the seats on the express aren't comfortable and we'll need our Harry pillow." Luna said.

"Hairy pillow Luna? Really?" Hermione gave an exasperated sigh at the blonde girl.

As they left Harry considered the best way to handle the charm, he could just get rid of it, but where was the fun in that? Same with transferring it to something in his dorm. Finally he hit upon what he thought was the perfect idea. He switched the charm to a piece of parchment then donned his invisibility cloak and checked the map.

His target was in the fourth floor corridor with the painting of the sleeping wizards. A minor attraction at Hogwarts since no one had ever been able to wake them. Carefully Harry made his way to the proper corridor. He stopped next to a painting of an old wizard with a chess board and purple robes, he peeked around the corner.

Peeves had an inkwell and was busy drawing glasses, mustaches and scars onto the sleeping wizards. Harry moved down the corridor and set the parchment on the ground. Then stepped away and cast a voice altering charm. "Hello Peeves, would you like to play a game?"

"Who's there? Is a little student sneaking around on old Peevesy?" Peeves cast his gaze up and down the hall.

"Would you like to play a game?" Harry asked again.

"Maybe, what is your game mister voice?"

"On the floor in front of you is a piece of parchment, on the parchment is a tracking charm I stole from a student. If you hide it somewhere Dumbledore is sure to come looking for it and you can use it to lead him on a merry chase." Harry explained, sure the poltergeist couldn't resist the chance to prank Dumbledore.

"Hmm, Okays I will play." Peeves grabbed the parchment and flew down the corridor thinking of all the places he could hide the parchment to get the Headmasters attention.

0-O-0

With the tracking charm taken care of Harry took the tunnel under the one eyed witch to Hogsmead. Hedwig would have been faster but he'd decided to let her sleep until she popped home. Besides he still had time.

He reached the train and found Hermione and Luna well before the train left. He did take a moment to find Susan and ask if her aunt was picking her up as he needed to speak with her. Assured that Madam Bones would be there he settled in to enjoy the ride with Hermione on one side and Luna on the other.

0-O-0

Dumbledore was pleased with how Harry had handled being confined to the castle. Perhaps there was still hope. In fact he decided that he should take the opportunity to speak with Harry further since he seemed to be receptive today. A quick check of the charms he had placed on Harry was the first hint that something was wrong. They had all gone dead. It was the same for the ones on Miss Granger and Lovegood.

But how? No first year could find those charms, let alone remove them. Someone had interfered. But Harry had come to see him that very morning, Dumbledore switched to the tracking charm applied to everyone who stepped into his office. Everyone who walked through the door way was 'tagged' and tracked by the wards. So long as they were on the grounds, which were far more extensive than most people assumed.

Harry wasn't in the castle; Dumbledore turned his focus outward, there. For some reason Harry was in the forbidden forest, right where the Acromantula nested! He needed to help him right away. "Fawkes!"

Dumbledore waited a moment expecting the phoenix to appear, when he didn't the Headmaster called out again. "Fawkes I need you!"

"He's in the closet." Hathfojd said.

Dumbledore ran to the closet and ripped open the door. Fawkes was spread out on the floor, stomach bloated and pieces of matches scattered around him. "Fawkes we must save Harry!"

Fawkes raised his head weakly before he burst into flames. A small chick emerged from the ashes, then fell backwards and began to snore. While he was bound by the wards to answer to Dumbledore, if he physically couldn't, say because he had just had an early burning day, well there wasn't anything the Headmaster could do about that.

Hathfojd laughed at Fawkes antics. "That's what happens when you eat five pounds of assorted matches in one night."

Dumbledore turned to the Sorting Hat. "Where did Fawkes get so many matches?"

"Internet."

"What's an internet?" Dumbledore asked confused. He's never heard of such a thing, perhaps some kind of delivery service?

"Never mind, don't you need to save Mr. Potter?"

"Yes!" Dumbledore snatched a quill from his desk. He didn't have any pre-made portkeys to the nest and so had to waste valuable moments to make a new one. He disappeared and reappeared in the middle of several dozen spiders, all larger than him and all very angry that their mating dance had been interrupted.

0-O-0

Peeves was getting bored, if he had one problem it was waiting for people to fall into his pranks. Well the exciting ones anyways. He was about to give up, watching spiders dance around so they could go shag wasn't as entertaining as it sounded, when Dumbledore appeared in the middle of their fun time.

The resulting fight was very entertaining, much more than dancing spiders. Peeves waited until the Headmaster had almost cleared them out before he grabbed the parchment and zoomed towards his next location.

0-O-0

Dumbledore panted as the last Acromantula fell, he had yet to see Harry, not that he had had time to look. A quick check showed that Harry had moved, he was now at the bottom of the Black Lake. Dumbledore knew something wasn't right but he couldn't risk not checking. Harry was deep enough that drowning was a very real possibility.

The same quill became another port key and Dumbledore cast a bubble head charm on himself, along with a warming one, and vanished into the murky lake. Right into the middle of the grindylows that inhabited the lake.

For a moment no one moved, then the grindylows swarmed. Thrilled that their prey had started delivering itself to them. Peeves floated off to the side laughing like a mad man, not that anyone could hear him over the screeching of the redcaps.

Normally Peeves didn't actually try to harm anyone with his pranks. No one would ever call him nice but as far as poltergeists went he was fairly harmless. Dumbledore had annoyed him more than once with spells to bind spirits and this was an amazing payback.

When the grindylows began to thin out and flee Peeves took off for his next location.

0-O-0

Dumbledore's robes were torn and blood stained the water around him from dozens of shallow cuts. Nothing serious but certainly annoying. And yet again there was no Harry. Another check of the charm showed Harry now inside the castle, in fact in Professor McGonagall's quarters.

Another portkey trip and he smoothly stepped into her rooms. The Transfiguration Professor took one look at Dumbledore and almost screamed, he was soaked and his beard was stained with blood giving him a distinctly Weasley appearance. "Albus! You need to see Madam Pomfrey now!"

"In a moment." The charm led him to a well-worn trunk. A quick charm had it open and its items thrown into the air. Harry was not among them but Dumbledore caught site of a piece of parchment grabbed by a ghostly hand before it disappeared.

It was then that he noticed what else had been in the trunk and was now raining down on him. Professor McGonagall's undergarments. "Albus!"

0-O-0

Peeves hurried along thinking of where to go next, maybe the pile of dragon dung fertilizer by the green houses?

His thoughts stopped when he was plucked from the air by translucent chains. He cursed knowing exactly who had caught him. Only one person knew that spell at Hogwarts. "Hello Headmaster, what can Peeves be doing for you?"

Dumbledore snatched the parchment from Peeves and examined it. "Where did you get this? Answer me and answer me truthfully."

Peeves sighed. Well it had been fun, and now that he was caught his only regret was not seeing how the Headmaster got that handprint on his face, it looked painful. "A voice tells Peeves that it is taking a tracking charm from a student and that Peeves should hide it for fun."

So that was it, Dumbledore knew it was the truth because the chains forced the poltergeist to obey as long as they bound him. But who? It was clear whoever they were had also removed the other tracking charms. Calling Harry a student implied that they weren't. Could someone have really gotten onto the grounds without him knowing? Was it the same person who had already tried to kill him?

Dumbledore released Peeves, he had bigger problems. Such as where Harry was. He had no way to track the boy at that moment. Giving Peeves the charm could have been a distraction or another attempt on his life, perhaps both? His only leads were Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood, with any luck they could shed light on what had happened. If he was very lucky perhaps Harry was with them.

Peeves waited until Dumbledore had returned to his office to clean up before he crossed his legs and floated out the window. He let the breeze blow him along over the lake. "I can't wait for the Headmaster to leave, but at this rate he'll stick around until he is dead and then his ghost will probably become the Headmaster. I wish the others would hurry it up, I was never supposed to be alone for this long."

0-O-0

Dumbledore appeared on platform 9 ¾ well before the Hogwarts express arrived. He had taken the time to clean himself up, change robes and wash out the blood from his hair. Now there was nothing to do but wait and hope.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and Perfect Lionheart.)


	22. Scarred for Life

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Two: Scarred for Life

0-O-0

The Hogwarts Express steamed down the tracks. In one of the compartments, warded so only a select few could enter Harry sat with his legs resting on the opposite seat. On either side Hermione and Luna were cuddled against him. As far as Harry was concerned this was the life he wanted, the three of them and peace.

If their plans went the way they hoped Sirius would be released soon, they'd catch Voldemort's spirit at the end of this year and stick around long enough to snatch the diary before they left Britain all together. They could then hunt down every Horcrux with Luna's tracking spell. The only downside was that it could only be used twice a year, on the summer and winter solstices.

Still it'd only take a few years to find them all if Dumbledore was correct about the number. Then they could deal with the others like Snape at their leisure. There were some that needed to be dealt with sooner than others but the whole list would be worked through before they were finished.

Harry's mind drifted along, thinking of what the next few years would be like. Just having the chance to have fun and enjoy themselves. His pleasant musings were interrupted by a scream from one of the other compartments.

They were up, wands drawn in an instant. Harry cracked open the compartment door and checked the hall. Several students were running along screaming about a giant spider. Smith seemed to have wet himself. Harry relaxed and closed the door. "It's just a bit of pay back against Ron kicking in."

"And what exactly did you do to Ron?" Hermione demanded. "And why weren't we invited to help?"

"Well I got the idea after Halloween while you two were away and Ron was being annoying. I talked with the twins and gave them a few ideas for a transfiguration potion. I figured with a little help they could come up with it years sooner this time. Then I asked them to make a dose that would turn Ron into a spider. They finally finish it yesterday and call it Spider Scones. I left one out on my nightstand under a warming charm and with another to fill Ron's bed with the smell of it. When I woke up it was gone so I figured he had eaten it." Harry explained. Of course when he hadn't heard anything about a giant spider running around the castle he figured the prank was a dud.

"Well I suppose we can forgive you." Luna started.

"But you're going to have to work very hard to make it up to us." Hermione finished.

Harry gave a mock bow. "Then I shall endeavor to do just that, do either of you beautiful ladies have any ideas on how I can begin to make amends?"

"We might." They said together.

0-O-0

Ron was not happy, well compared to five minutes before he was ecstatic but he still wasn't happy. The wind whipped at his robes and he held onto the pole on the small platform behind the last car on the Hogwarts Express.

His day had started great, if a bit early. He'd woken to the smell of a warm scone and found it on Potter's nightstand. Well if the fool was going to sleep instead of eat Ron had reasoned, than he didn't deserve the food. Ron was about to shove it into his mouth when he had stopped, then slipped it into his pocket for later. Besides there was a whole breakfast in the great hall for him to enjoy and the scone could hold him over on the train to the snack lady showed up. He'd sold a couple of the twin's prank items that he'd borrowed to a fifth year.

Really Ron thought it was fair after the twins had pranked him so many times. He stuffed himself at breakfast before he remembered he still needed to pack for the train. Smith was still in the dorm room and after Ron tossed in everything he wanted they both climbed onto of his trunk so Ron could latch it.

The train ride had been going well. Justin and Smith were playing exploding snap with him. Ron had pulled out the scone and began munching on it as they set up another game. Suddenly both Justin and Smith were much bigger then he was. They screamed and ran from the compartment screaming about a giant spider.

Ron was right behind them but his legs weren't working properly, they kept getting tangled up and everything was so much bigger then it was supposed to be. As he ran down the train everyone kept screaming, which could only mean the spider was following him.

He kept barreling through doors until he hit the last door on the last train car and slimmed into the rails along the back platform. He spun around, terrified to find the spider that had been chasing him. Instead he saw his reflection in the polished cars surface. He was the spider!

That had proven too much and he'd passed out. When he came to he was human again but the door back onto the train wouldn't open. Then it had started to snow. Now he was clutching the pole with his frozen hands as the wind whipped at him and the snow stung his cheeks. It was a miserable situation but still it was better than being a spider. Ron continued to repeat that to himself.

0-O-0

As the Hogwarts express pulled into Kings cross station Luna looked out their compartments window. She didn't have any trouble spotting Dumbledore waiting for them. "He's near the portal to the muggle side."

"He'd be able to make sure none of us slipped by him then." Hermione mused.

"Alright I'll go find Susan and go speak with her aunt. Both of you be careful." Harry said, he kissed each of them before he slipped on into the crowded hall.

Luna watched as Dumbledore scanned the platform. "Do you think we should distract the old fool a bit for Harry?"

"I think we would be remiss in our duties towards Harry if we didn't. I take it you have a plan?" Hermione asked.

"Of course. Would you be good enough to conjure me an owl?" Luna asked as she pulled out a slip of parchment and a self-inking quill.

"Alright but it won't last more than a few minutes." Hermione reminded her.

"That's fine; it just needs to deliver this letter." Luna placed the final charms on the parchment. It wasn't as good as a howler on the pre-charmed parchment but it would work. She attached it to the small owl's leg and let it fly out the window.

0-O-0

Dumbledore turned his head checking the face of each student. Thankfully Harry wasn't skilled enough to alter his appearance. He was surprised when an owl flew passed him and dropped a red envelope that burst into flames before he could hex it away. The voice caused most of the gathered students to jump in surprise.

"Albus Goat Buggering Dumbledore! I don't care how many Dark Lords you've defeated stay out of my goat pins! Don't think I can't tell the difference between you and your brother! If I catch you with your robes up anywhere near my livestock I'm reporting you again!" The Howler danced out of Dumbledore's way before it burst into flames.

The platform was dead quiet as everyone focused on the ashen faced Headmaster.

0-O-0

Harry managed to catch up to Susan and Hannah just as they were stepping off the express, and just in time to hear the howler go off. He made sure to keep his back turned towards Dumbledore just in case. Madam Bones wasn't hard to find, Susan rushed towards her and wrapped the stern woman in a tight hug. "I've missed you aunty."

After a moment the still shocked Madam Bones returned the hug. "I've missed you too, how are your classes?"

"Fine, Aunty this is Harry Potter. Harry my aunt." Susan introduced him.

"Madam Bones." Harry said and gave a polite bow.

"Mr. Potter." Madam Bones nodded politely.

"Madam I wanted to thank you for all the help you have provided me but I am afraid I must ask for more assistance. You see I have permission from Judge Cortus to spend the Christmas holiday with my friend Luna. The headmaster removed my name from the list of students to go home and told me he did it because he felt I wasn't safe. However the Hogwarts rules specific state that he can't do that." Harry pulled out a copy of the page with the rule and handed it to her, along with the permission from Judge Cortus.

Madam Bones looked over the papers. "And you think that Dumbledore is going to cause trouble for you?"

"Considering he is harassing the Lovegoods right now yes." Harry jerked his thumb towards where an agitated Dumbledore was speaking in a clipped tone with Xeno.

They hurried over and arrived in time to catch the end of Dumbledore's argument. "…not fit to care for him and I demand to tell me where he is now!"

"Are you looking for me Headmaster?" Harry asked innocently.

"Harry! We must return you to Hogwarts now! It isn't safe for you to be away." Dumbledore reached for him, only to have Harry slip away and move behind Madam Bones.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at Dumbledore?" Madam Bones demanded.

"Amelia my dear, Mr. Potter was not on the list of students to leave the castle therefore he should not be here, I am merely returning to. Or if you are referring to that howler it would appear to be a practical joke preformed in bad taste." Dumbledore tried to explain.

"Really? Never mind this is about you and farm animals. Were you the one to remove Harry from that list?"

"Well yes, he did not have permission to leave the castle so I took the liberty of removing his name." Dumbledore didn't like where this was going.

"Then what is this?" Madam Bones waved the permission from Judge Cortus in Dumbledore's face.

"I was not aware of that at the time I removed his name and I do not feel it is safe for Harry to leave Hogwarts. I was planning to go and speak with the good judge before I realized Harry snuck away and had to track him down. This has shown that he is willing to disregard the rules and after he has been returned to Hogwarts I will speak with Mr. Cortus. I am sure the Judge will agree that Harry should remain at the school." Dumbledore said with as much confidence as he could muster. Why couldn't Amelia just leave him well enough alone? She'd done more harm than good with her hardline stance against crime. No chance for them to reform.

"You've overstepped your authority Albus, go back to Hogwarts, Mr. Potter will not be accompanying you. I will also speak with Judge Cortus about your behavior." Amelia said, she didn't want a public fight with Dumbledore, not matter how much she personally wanted to curse him. It seemed everything she followed came back to him and an unhealthy interest in Harry Potter.

"Please be reasonable, it isn't safe for him…"

"If you have a credible threat, report it. If not, leave." Madam Bones left no room for argument.

Dumbledore considered pushing his point further but decided against it. One look at the woman told him she would not see reason. There were other ways to prove his points, ways that would be more helpful to him than an argument with the head of the DMLE. He just needed to prove that the Lovegood home was not safe for Harry. "Very well but this shall be on your head."

Madam Bones stared after Dumbledore until he had left, not dignifying his parting words. No one noticed Xeno snap a quick picture with a muggle disposable camera he kept in his robes. Once he was gone she snorted. "That man."

"Thank you." Luna stepped forward and hugged the stern woman. Harry and Hermione tried to hide their snickering. Luna loved to keep people off guard.

Madam Bones was surprised by the small blonde's actions. Most people found her intimidating, even her niece Susan. "You're very welcome."

She and Xeno traded a few pleasantries before they walked through the barrier to the muggle side of the station. The Grangers were waiting and wrapped Hermione in a hug. Harry was a bit surprised when Jean then pulled Luna into the hug as well. Harry couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched. Anyone looking at him and Xeno would have seen the same smile on the older man's face.

Despite having already worked out spending most of their vacation together, including a sleep over on Christmas eve at the Grangers and Christmas day at the Rockery, their goodbye was drawn out with much hugging and a few kisses on the cheek from the girls to Harry. Though he suspected that they did it, mostly, to embarrass him in front of their parents.

0-O-0

As was the new normal Ron wasn't happy. He'd tried to tell his mum about what had happened but she had ignored him, so set was she on finding Harry Potter, only to stop when she saw him with Dumbledore and Madam Bones. Since the Lovegoods were there as well she decided that Harry must be staying with them which would offer the perfect opportunity to introduce him to Ginny.

Molly continued to ignore her youngest son as they left the station. Ron was becoming more and more upset. He'd find a way to get back at that bastard Potter.

0-O-0

As far as Luna was concerned it was wonderful to be home. She had missed her father and her room, the view of the woods, that little stream down the hill. It didn't take her long to find that her father had added a few additions to her room while she was gone either.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked as Luna chuckled at something on the wall that he couldn't see.

"Daddy added some special wards while we were away." Luna answered as she began to search for more.

"Eh, what kind of special wards?" Harry asked warily. It never did to underestimate what a Lovegood could come up with.

"Well so far it seems to just be the standard chastity wards. They'd let him know if we got up to anything inappropriate." Luna explained.

"So no sleeping in the same bed." Harry sighed; he had been looking forward to getting to cuddle with Luna properly.

"Oh no silly that's fine. This type doesn't register the little things like hugs or kisses, though a snog might set it off. And we would just be hugging in our sleep."

"And if he comes in while we are sleeping?" Harry asked.

"It'll be fine. Though I will have to tinker with it before we leave for our early Christmas present tonight." Luna said as she planned what changes she'd need to make before they left.

0-O-0

The setting sun bathed Hogwarts in the last rays of light before night settled around it. Dumbledore sat in his office deep in thought. The day had started out so promising. Then Harry had disobeyed him again. Sometimes that boy acted so mature and sometimes he was a spoiled brat and Dumbledore never knew which path he'd take. The thought that Harry only appeared a spoiled brat to him when he didn't follow the Headmasters plans never crossed Dumbledore's mind.

After retreating from platform 9 and ¾ he had spent an hour working out exactly what to say to Judge Cortus, time that now appeared wasted as when he contacted the judge he'd been told they couldn't meet until the following day. Dumbledore was sure Madam Bones had gotten to the judge first.

Perhaps worse was what one of his contacts told him not long after: Sirius Black had been removed from Azkaban some time ago and was being held at another ministry facility. While he could go and demand to know what Amelia was doing he had no doubt she'd refuse on the grounds of an ongoing investigation.

The worst case scenario was that Black would soon be free and awarded custody of Harry. A dozen plans were discarded as he pondered what to do. Black would have no doubt been under observations since his move from Azkaban so any idea to paint him as insane wouldn't hold up. He was sure he could get Fudge on his side, and Malfoy would unwittingly help. Black in Azkaban was best for Draco as well.

Still against Amelia and whatever she had it might not be enough, best to plan ahead. Finally an idea had come that would help him regain control of Harry if he could get it pushed through the Ministry fast enough. The afternoon had been devoted to seeing that his idea was proposed by the correct people with no known ties to him as soon as possible.

Perhaps the only piece of good news the entire day was that Severus had finished the hair growth potion and Dumbledore's beard and head hair were back to normal.

0-O-0

Lucius strolled down the docks towards a large cargo ship. He wasn't taking any chances this time. Bremerhaven was one of the busiest ports in Europe and well away from England. He had already disillusioned himself and thanks to a few tricks he had learned as a Death Eater slipped his way onto the docks. His goal was the Rose's Revenge.

The cargo ship was unremarkable in every way and a quick check of it showed there to be no noticeable magic on or around it. With most of its crew on land Lucius had no trouble slipping onboard and making his way down into the cargo hold.

It didn't take long for Lucius to find the spot he was looking for. He pulled his wand from his walking stick and touched it to the metal haul. He didn't bother with a spell, he just channeled magic into the metal causing rust to bloom and creep along the wall like ice. Metal and rust flaked off, pockmarks appeared as the metal aged and warped. One reason he had chosen this ship was because it was an older vessel with a single hull design. The other was that its next stop was England.

Lucius didn't stop until several small leaks began to spring up. A few quick spell sealed the holes and insured the Rose's Revenge wouldn't sink just yet. He repeated the process at two other locations before he was satisfied. His next stop would be the engines where a few spells would insure when they came into range of a ward stone that Lucius had already planted at the ships next port the vessel would blow into the docks at full speed.

Of course to do that it meant he needed at least a rudimentary knowledge of how the ships engines worked. While he and the other Death Eaters would never admit it most of them probably knew more about how muggle machines worked than the average Pureblood. It was seen as a necessary evil.

Lucius was about to leave the cargo hold when another idea struck him. Why let the cargo go to waste? The portkey spell was simple but needed power and a precise knowledge of where one wanted to go. Anything less and you were risking accidents. It took him several minutes per container but after an hour he had the largest ones set to be port keyed to a little used building on a piece of land he owned. The port key wouldn't activate until the containers came into contact with saltwater. To be safe he had divided the part of the spell that would register the saltwater to three different locations on each container. Hopefully insuring they didn't leave the ship until it was sinking.

The engines took almost another hour and two pepper up potions to complete. Lucius final spell was one on the bow of the ship that would trigger the spells holding the hull together to fail when it hit the docks.

Exhausted Lucius made his way home by a prearranged portkey. He could already taste victory.

0-O-0

Deep in the night just outside of Hogsmead Harry, Hermione and Luna snuck towards the town under Harry's invisibility cloak. They had decided the best way to start off their break was to give Snape a special gift. Honeydukes was easy to break into, the secret passage in their basement allowed easy access to Hogwarts.

Using the Marauders Map they assured themselves that everyone who had remained for the break was sleeping, except for Filtch who was prowling near the library. Their way to the Room of Requirements was empty.

Once within the room Hermione called for a door to Snape's quarters. Luna set her bag down and pulled out a bottle of ink they'd brewed just for the occasion. Harry picked up the bottle and swirled it around. "Looks normal."

"It's not." Luna assured him.

The three of them once more checked Snape's rooms for traps and wards before they moved the sleeping professor into the Room of Requirements. They strapped him to a table and Hermione removed his robes. They each thanked Merlin he was wearing underwear, though the sight of Snape in a pair of black satin briefs was not something they'd easily be rid of.

Luna uncorked the bottle and ink and dipped a thick quill into it. Several flowing strokes later and the first part of their gift to Snape was done. Next Luna moved onto Snape's right arm, directly opposite of his Dark Mark, and began the next tattoo.

To insure that Snape couldn't get rid of their gift to soon the ink was based off that used for magical tattoos with a few extra ingredients. The only way to remove a magical tattoo was to remove the skin and have it regrown. Easier said than done thanks to the powdered naked mole rat teeth they had added. The teeth would drastically slow down any magical reactions after it had been absorbed into Snape's skin.

When Luna finished the second tattoo she traced over it with another ink that would hold the charms she and Hermione had worked out, without interfering with the powdered teeth in the first layer. Finally the flipped Snape over and Luna placed the last tattoo. At least for this round.

"Now to get him back to his room and make it look like he got drunk." Hermione said as they put his robes back on.

"Dobby can be doing for you Miss Booky." Dobby said from the corner. Everyone jumped as none of them had known the elf was in the room.

"What are you doing here Dobby?" Harry asked.

"I is hearing you is getting revenge on nasty nose and Dobby is wanting to see. I is sorry Great Harry Potter Sir. Dobby is asking permission to be punishing himself now." Dobby began to wring his ears in worry. It was a pathetic sight; he simply looked so downtrodden.

"No punishing yourself Dobby." Hermione said automatically, then added. "You don't like Snape?"

Dobby's head bobbed back and forth so fast Harry was sure the only thing keeping it attacked to him was magic. "No Miss Booky, not at all."

"Why don't you like Snape?" Hermione asked.

"Nasty Nose is coming to bad old masters house, Nasty Nose is kicking Dobby. It is of the greatest insult to punish your host's elf. Is second greatest insult to let guest punish elf." Dobby said with venom behind his words.

"Well we can't blame you for not liking him. You can go put him to bed and set it up for us if you want but remember this is all secret, no one besides us can know about it alright?" Hermione said.

"Dobby in understanding, Dobby be keeping secrets, magic is making sure of it." Dobby assured them. He took Professor Snape and returned him to his bed before he took several of the fire whisky bottles and forced the sleeping professor to drink.

Working for the Malfoys had allowed Dobby to learn all matter of things not taught to most elves. Among them how to make sure a man appeared drunk. After the first bottle was emptied Dobby flipped Snape over, pulled up his sleeping gown and pulled down his satin briefs. Fire Whisky wasn't meant to go in this way as Dobby had seen the results first hand, and if it added a bit of discomfort for Nasty Nose all the better.

0-O-0

Snape groaned as he woke, what little light filtered into his quarters was far too bright. He wasn't sure exactly when he stopped sleeping but he thought it might have been when there was a sharp increase in pain. It took Snape several minutes to muster the energy to get up; his first stop was a hangover potion. While he didn't remember drinking he knew the results. And the results said he had drinking more than enough not to remember drinking at all.

The potion, from his personal cabinet with a hint of mint, didn't help as much as Snape had hoped. He could move without stabbing pains but his head was still sore and there was a horrible taste in his mouth.

He stumbled into the shower hoping he would feel more like a living thing when he was finished. His wish was granted but more along the lines of 'to live is to suffer'. As his mind finally began to work Snape became aware of more aches and pains that he been overshadowed by his splitting headache. For a moment he was half tempted to open his mouth and look into the showerhead until he drowned but decided the best medicine would be to pass the pain to others. It was a shame Potter had managed to escape for the holiday.

As Snape stepped out of the shower he picked up his underwear and paused, there was a large hole in the back with shingled edges, how had that happened? Ignoring it for a moment he turned towards his mirror and froze. There, scribbled across his head was the word 'Dunderhead.'

"Potter!" Snape's cry echoed through the castle. He stumbled out into his chambers, he didn't know how but this was the work of Potter, he knew it, he felt it! He began to dress, he'd see Madam Pomfrey and have the words removed before he hunted down and skinned the brat.

A dozen spells failed to remove the words and he had scrubbed his forehead raw but the letters refused to fade. This wasn't normal ink or a jinx. He would have to get assistance to remove them.

As Snape grabbed his robes a slip of paper fell to the floor. He grabbed it and frowned, it was a receipt from the Scarred for Life Tattoo Parlor. The receipt crumpled between his fingers. Potter was behind it, somehow. Snape was sure he'd never become so drunk that he would get a tattoo. The parchment changed nothing, Potter would pay.

0-O-0

Madam Pomfrey was enjoying her own Christmas break, with so few students there was little for her to do. So she was surprised when the hospital wing doors flew open and Severus stormed in. she took one look at him and could barely contain a sudden fit of giggles. "Severus, what, what happened?"

"I woke up defaced; I need this removed before anyone sees me!" Snape snapped.

"Of course, take a seat and I'll see to you, I just need to get… something from my office." Poppy barely managed to close her door before she burst into laughter. Someone had certainly gotten back at the potion master. Once she finally had control of herself Poppy stepped back out to deal with Severus. "Alright hold still and I'll see what can be done."

"Just hurry. I have important things to take care of." Snape said, while Poppy performed her scans he allowed his mind to wonder to what he would do to Potter.

"Alright I should be able to remove it without too much difficulty but I'll have to give you a potion to regrown the skin on your forehead when we are finished. Now is it just the one on your head you want removed or the others as well?" Poppy asked, the spells showed three fresh tattoos on the professor.

"Others?" Snape asked with a sinking feeling.

"Yes, besides your Dark Mark and the one on your head there is a tattoo on your right arm and one on your lower back." Poppy said.

Snape furiously pulled up his right sleeve to find a stylized fairy fluttering around. When it realized it had been exposed it shot further up his arm. Snape growled before he rushed to the bathroom, pulling off his robes as he went to expose the tattoo on his lower back.

When Snape saw what was written he was to furious to even yell. There were three words above a small arrow. 'Headmaster's Happy Hole'.

Poppy caught sight of the tattoo as Snape entered the bathroom. She wasn't sure whether to be amused or horrified. As Snape was struggling to yell out in displeasure Poppy spotted a crumpled piece of parchment that had fallen from his robes. It was the receipt. "Well that explains that. Maybe they'll have a quick way to remove that fairy."

After all charmed tattoos were notoriously difficult to remove.

0-O-0

Dumbledore was a bit surprised when he received a note from Judge Cortus asking for their meeting to take place in his home instead of his office. Still he took it as a good sign Cortus was willing to meet with him in his house.

Judge Cortus's home was tucked away in a wooded swatch of land between several rocky fields used to graze animals. Really it was a charming place Dumbledore thought as he strolled up the path. He didn't miss the large old trees and impressive sight that would have been wasted if he had floo'd in. This explained why the judge had asked him to apparate to the front gate.

There were few people who did not fall easily under Dumbledore's sway, who were not blinded by his fame. Despite his age Judge Cortus was one of those few and Dumbledore held a small amount of respect for him because of it. The subtle plays that he had already made were not lost on Dumbledore either. With any luck he would understand what needed to be done with Harry.

When he arrived at the door and knocked and waited, taking in the other details meant to set the judge at the advantage for meetings. Judge Cortus opened the door and meet Dumbledore's smile and a stony face. "Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Judge Cortus. Thank you for meeting with me though I wish you could have made time to do so sooner." Dumbledore said, as he debated between treating the Judge as a political threat or a parent.

Judge Cortus ignored Dumbledore's complaint. "Come in and we can get this over with."

Dumbledore followed the Judge into his home, down a richly furnished hall to an impressive set of double doors. Made of dark wood they drew attention and created a feeling of foreboding to those who entered. Dumbledore was jealous of them. Perhaps if he pushed the door to his office back a few feet he could add something like them.

The office was set up similar to Dumbledore's own, large window behind a solid desk, raised. Smaller chair in front to put the visitor at a disadvantage. However where Dumbledore used assorted items and mysterious looking items to impress the Judge used rows upon rows of neatly bound books.

The Judge led Dumbledore to a side table ignoring his desk. Dumbledore was pleased to see that the Judge wasn't going to bother with such cheap tricks. Once they were seat Cortus fixed Dumbledore with a stern gaze. "Now then why don't you tell me why you disregarded Mr. Potter's permission to leave school for the break?"

"I was unaware he had permission when I removed his name from the list…"

"Yet he showed you the permission and you still went to the platform to retrieve him." Cortus stated.

"Yes, as I attempted to explain to Madam Bones I did not feel that Harry would be safe at the Lovegoods, I intended to suggest that if he must leave the castle for the holidays then he stay with the Weasley's. They live close to the Lovegoods so Harry would be able to visit and still be protected." Dumbledore thought it was reasonable and would allow Harry to learn more about the Wesley's before his next plan was enacted.

"I see, I'll keep that in mind. Now why do you believe Mr. Potter is not safe?" The Judge asked.

"As we both know not all of Voldemort's followers were caught with after his disappearance. As the boy who defeated their master Harry is a prime target for them." Dumbledore explained.

"They are free because of your efforts." The Judge said curtly.

"Well I hardly think that's…" Dumbledore began before he was cut off.

"You pushed for many of them to be released on the barest of excuses."

"Everyone deserves a second chance; many of them had young children, would you condemn them for the actions of their parents?" Dumbledore said.

"You are wrong." That simple statement was enough for Dumbledore to feel as if eh had been slapped. People didn't just come out and say such things about him. But the Judge wasn't finished. "Second chances are earned through punishment and regret. Those monsters were not punished and did not regret their actions.

"I would not condemn a child but that is what you did, you condemned them to be raised and taught by subhuman monsters. They could have easily been placed with other magical families. Instead they have been taught the same as their parents and will most likely pay the same price at the end. They aren't smart enough to keep out of trouble, I've seen it before. But we've gotten off topic.

"If you are concerned about Harry's protection then find some evidence. Without that we can do nothing. And don't forget I know how he ended up with those relatives of his." Judge Cortus finished.

Dumbledore was horrified. How could a judge have so little compassion? He had to get Severus to take care of things before the Judge contaminated Harry with such barbarian beliefs. His outward appearance did not reveal his horror though. "I see, very well should I come upon any information I will of course pass it on, I just hope you can live with the consequences of your actions."

Judge Cortus escorted Dumbledore to his door. "Don't worry Headmaster I will be sleeping just fine."

0-O-0

Dumbledore stormed into his office. He paused only for a moment to grab one of his calming draughts and gulp it down. With his knowledge of alchemy he had improved upon the standard drought and attuned it just for himself.

Once Dumbledore felt the calm wash over him he began to search for his potions master. A floo call to Severus's office went unanswered so he began to walk the school, checking the great hall and potion classroom.

Finally Dumbledore wondered into the hospital wing, he was disappointed to discover his potion master was on one of the beds. "Poppy? Is Severus alright?"

"Oh yes Albus, well he will be. He wanted me to remove a few tattoos. I'm glad you're here; my spells showed the Severus got drunk last night. So drunk not even a hangover potion was able to take care of it all. I know you've ignored my concerns about Sybill but you really should speak with Severus. If this becomes habit…"

"Yes I understand. When will he be up?" Dumbledore asked, wondering what had driven his friend to drink so much.

"In a day or so. But I was only able to remove two of the tattoos, the one on his head and the one of his back. The other was charmed to move and I'm waiting for word back from the tattoo parlor on how best to remove it." Poppy explained. She had tried to floo the tattoo parlor but there was no shop listed under that name and the receipt didn't list another so she had been forced to send an owl.

"I see, please inform me as soon as he wakes." Dumbledore said.

"I will, you know it's a shame you weren't here earlier. I believe Severus got one of those tattoos just for you."

"Really? That was considerate of him. It is a shame I missed it." Dumbledore said absently as his mind worked to find another solution to prove Harry wasn't safe with the Lovegoods.

0-O-0

Mike Wheeler loved tattoos, despite that he only had a few himself. While he loved drawing and inking them he couldn't stand getting them. He was lounging around the tattoo shop he worked at in Leeds when perhaps the strangest thing he had ever seen happened. An Owl landed on the front windowsill and pecked at the glass.

It didn't stop until Mike got up and made a shooing motion. Instead of flying away though it seemed more annoyed and resumed the noise. Mike sighed and opened the door to scare it off. The owl saw the open door and flew through his legs. "Hey!"

"What you yelling 'bout now?" Timmy, the owner, asked as he stepped out of the backroom.

"Crazy bird just flew in!" Mike gestured towards the owl that had taken up a spot on the counter.

Timmy looked at the bird and noticed the letter. "What the…"

Mike walked over as Timmy opened the letter and read it. "This can't be real. Some bloke got a moving tattoo and they want us to tell them how to get rid of it?"

After several minutes of discussion Timmy and Mike decided this was a prank, the trained owl was a nice touch they agreed. "Alright Mike here's what we're gonna do. We'll come up with the weirdest stuff we can and send it back. We can play this prank as well as anyone."

Well Mike reasoned it wasn't as if they were busy. They didn't get much business. Personally Mike thought it was the name, who wanted to get a tattoo at a place called Scarred for Life. "How are we supposed to get it to this Poppy person?"

"The owl's still here ain't it?" Timmy said.

"The owl? Really?"

"It got here didn't it? 'Sides, never heard of a homing pigeon?"

"That isn't a pigeon."

"Course not, but think 'bout it. Pigeons ain't known for being smart but they can find places hundreds of miles away. Owls are known for being smart so they won't have any problem. In fact, feel free to read a magazine if you get bored." The last comment was directed to the owl that bobbed its head.

"Right." Mike decided to just go with it, at least it sounded like he'd get a good story for the pub.

"Glad you agree, now why don't you see 'bout getting this fellow something to eat and drink. We'll be awhile."

"What do owls eat?" Mike asked.

"Mice I think." Timmy said.

"And where am I supposed to get a mouse?"

"Try the butchers down the row." Timmy suggested.

"They don't sell mice."

"Course they don't, but the place it dirty enough to have some running around." Timmy said as he grabbed some paper and started on a list. No one would be stupid enough to try any of it so he figured he'd get a bit creative. It'd be a good laugh for whoever got it.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and Perfect Lionheart.)

(A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my Grandmother who passed away last Sunday. Thanks for the love and laughs.)


	23. Santa again

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor Santa, but if the poisoned cookies work that might change soon.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Three: Santa again

0-O-0

Xeno Lovegood looked down at the Daily Prophet with a smile. Normally he didn't care for the publication. Internationally the Quibbler was considered more reliable, not that most knew that. But this was a story he was glad to sell his so called rival. The large picture of Dumbledore on Platform 9 ¾ with the Hogwarts Express behind him accompanied the story of what had transpired. The howler took front stage even if the Prophet pointed out it was most likely a prank. The news that Dumbledore had attempted to hold Harry at Hogwarts even after receiving permission for him to leave was the real shocker though.

Of course Xeno was referred to only as a reliable source; that was the easiest part of the contract to agree upon. The Prophet didn't want it known that Xeno, a crazy man with an insane paper, as they had put it so often was their reliable source. And he didn't want it coming back that he was the one who sold them the story. The price the Prophet was willing to pay was nice but the true reason he had sold the story was to weaken Dumbledore's position with Harry.

As far as Xeno was concerned Harry and Hermione were the best thing to happen to his daughter. He hadn't seen Luna so happy in so long. That the Grangers treated Luna like another daughter was also a relief. A few talks and Emma had agreed to give Luna the necessary talks in a year or two. And while he wasn't planning on dying, accidents did happen as they knew, the Grangers had already agreed to take Luna in and watch after her if anything happened to him.

It was a weight off of his shoulders knowing there was someone to help Luna if anything happened to him, well besides the Weasleys, his opinion of them had taken a nose dive recently. At least once a week Molly tried to ask questions about Harry.

Xeno turned his mind towards more pleasant thoughts, such as Luna and Harry rushing out to go sledging before they traveled to the Granger's, who had been kind enough to invite them to spend the night for Christmas Eve. Then the next day they would all return to the Rookery. The Grangers loved the woods around the Lovegood home.

0-O-0

Luna screamed as the sled rocketed down the hill. Harry leaned to the side to avoid a large tree. Snow flew up around their red faces. They careened into a snow drift at the bottom of the hill and were thrown off the sled.

Harry and Luna landed in the thick snow laughing. Luna rolled over until she was half lying on Harry. "I thought we were going to crash that time."

"If Riddle can't get rid of me a tree doesn't stand a chance." Harry said as he caught his breath.

Luna leaned forward and gently kissed him. "Good, or Hermione and I would be most displeased with you."

"Something I always do my best to avoid. Come on lets go in a get changed before we head over to Hermione's. I think I have snow in my pants." Harry said as he helped Luna up.

"I know I do, brrr." Luna said.

0-O-0

Judge Cortus strolled along the lane. It was a picturesque scene of winter. He had decided to see for himself about Dumbledore's complaints. Namely that Harry would be safer at the Weasley's instead of the Lovegood's.

When he reached the edge of the Weasley's property he cast a charm to check the wards. Wards had always been a bit of a hobby for him. He was disappointed to see how thin the protection was. Really with Mr. Weasley's position the wards should have been better; they wouldn't last two minutes against a determined assailant with a passing knowledge of wards. He'd have to discreetly have that mentioned to someone. The Ministry had warders who could do better than this. Not only was it a disgrace it was a security risk.

The Judge continued down the lane towards the Lovegood's. As he reached the edge of their property he heard laughter and spotted two young children making their way towards the odd house. He guessed that they were Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. He couldn't help but smile at how happy they seemed. He had no intention of removing Harry if he could help it.

A quick check of their wards showed them to be much better than the Judge had expected. He could only make out about half of them but they were good, the others seemed to be even stronger. He felt sorry for anyone who tried to get past them.

With a quick pop he returned to his home, content that things were working out well.

0-O-0

On the day before Christmas Snape stepped in the Headmasters office. "You wished to see me sir?"

"Ah Severus my boy, how are you?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes flickered to the bandage that was wrapped around his potion masters head.

"Unfortunately the skin growth potion is working exceptionable slow and the charms barely do anything either. At this rate it'll be a week before my head is healed! I don't know how but I know Potter is behind this!" Snape slammed his fist down on Dumbledore's desk. He had been unable to think of anything else since he woke up.

"Unlikely but for the moment it doesn't matter, I have something I need you to do and I think you'll be pleased with it." Dumbledore said cheerfully. He knew he was about to offer his friend an excellent Christmas gift.

"And that would be?"

"I wish to prove that the Lovegood home isn't safe for Harry so I need you to arrange something. I don't want anyone hurt if it can be helped, especially Harry." Dumbledore said sternly.

"Very well, when would you like it done?" Snape asked. Really he thought that he couldn't be held responsible if something happened to one of them. People did panic sometimes. Maybe a nasty surprise for that little bint Lovegood. As long as it got the Potter brat back under the Headmaster's thumb Snape doubted he'd complain.

But he wouldn't kill her, oh no. Snape was still set on tossing the three of them into the potion pit. Maybe he'd just cripple her, or disfigure her somehow. And if when they returned Potter hadn't figured it out he'd kindly point out that she was suffering because she was his friend. Yes that would start to sooth his ego.

"Tonight if at all possible. They will be relaxed and vulnerable." Dumbledore said, he completely missed the look of sheer glee on Snape's face.

"It will be done." Snape gave a slight bow before he left to prepare for that evening. Anyone who encountered the potion master would have been very disturbed to find him humming Christmas carols to himself.

0-O-0

At the Granger's home Xeno sat with Dan and Emma at the kitchen table sipping tea while Harry, Hermione and Luna prepared the living room. They'd agreed to have another 'camp out' on the floor. The adults thought it would work out well since Hermione had spent the day getting ready to 'introduce' her friends to the muggle world, mostly movies. This way, the adults reasoned, when the children became tired they could sleep where they were.

"Thank you again for inviting us. I know it means so much to Luna and Harry to get to spend the holiday with your daughter. And it is nice not to have to deal with Luna's annual trap for Santa." Xeno said as the children walked into the kitchen.

"Who says I didn't set my trap before we left?" Luna asked. She didn't expect to catch Santa but still, it was tradition.

"But when… It was when you went back for your socks wasn't it?" Xeno said with a loud sigh.

"Yup. Oh and when we go home tomorrow I should probably go first to disarm it." Luna said.

"Of course dear." He just hoped she hadn't tried to use beavers again. Her mother had had a fit.

0-O-0

Snape crept along the edge of the Lovegood property. He would admit to being impressed with the wards, they might have posed a problem if he hadn't asked along a friend. Macnair crouched behind Snape, both dressed in their old Death Eater robes and mask. It felt amazing to be back in them, hunting again.

Lucius had almost been invited along but in the end Snape had decided he wanted someone more… brutal. A good swing of Macnair's ax would leave the Lovegood child wishing that she had never met Potter. Macnair also brought something that would make the night so much easier.

At some point in the past an Unspeakable had been charged with designing a way to open holes in wards. This would allow the user to bypass the wards without setting them off. Of course the same could be done with a team of ward breakers but the ministry wanted an easier method. One that didn't require so many people or so much magic.

The Unspeakable had apparently realized that the only places under wards, that wouldn't have a ward to detect a hole, were private homes and destroyed his work before the Ministry had been able to use it. Macnair had somehow gotten a hold of one of the prototypes. He had kept it a secret, even from their master, but was kind enough to let Snape borrow it from time to time. The ward hole's only setback was the magic needed to open the hole was equal to the magic needed to bring down the wards.

After the ward hole was set, it reminded Snape of a metal hula-hoop, it took them two hours to power through the wards. Once the hole was open they stepped through the metal ring and took a few minutes to recover, a pepper up potion helped them along. Really what kind of wards did those blasted Lovegoods have set up?

It was simple for them to gain entrance into the strange house.

Five minutes later Macnair stepped out, unsure what had happened. Inside everything had been wrapped in yarn, it looked like a child pathetic attempt to make a giant spider web. He'd slashed through a dozen before he realized what they really were. Trip wires. From there things became a disjointed collection of images. He'd lost his ax and Snape somewhere within.

Now outside he recognized that there had been a powerful confundus ward in place. At least it felt like one, never mind that he had not encountered the spell in ward form before. Anger rose in Macnair. They'd been made a fool of! His wand flashed as he fired a reducto at the window, only for it to bounce back and slam him through the ward hole.

Thankfully, for him at least, he had altered his Death Eater robes by adding the hide of several magical animals he had disposed of over the years. The hides had resisted enough of the reflected spell to only leave the man with serious bruising on his chest.

As Macnair climbed to his feet he saw the ward hole had corroded significantly. Something that had not happened the other dozen times he had used the device. He yanked it away from the ward just as the hoop cracked into pieces.

It didn't make any sense, everything that had happened screamed trap. Except there was no one here to finish them off. Something wasn't right, there must have been another goal to all this. Then a horrible thought struck Macnair. What if it had been a trap, but one to remove the ward hole?

It was preposterous, but what else could it be, he was unharmed. Snape, well Snape might be dead but _he_ was alright. The Lovegoods were clearly gone. Their home rigged with humiliating traps, something in the wards that corroded his prized ward hole. At first the name Dumbledore swam through his mind, but this wasn't the old fool's style. This was more, more of a warning…

That was it. This had been a warning from someone. Someone who knew they were coming and set everything up. A show of power and a way to remove a useful tool from him all at once. But who?

There had been rumors recently. Two sources had reported that someone had delivered something important to Madam Bones, something to do with Death Eaters. More rumors had spread around his underground contacts; a few had a name with them. Ash.

Could this be his doing? It didn't matter really. Macnair gathered the pieces of the ward hole and left. He needed to find a few new contacts and see what they had for him. At least he was sure of one thing, this couldn't be coincidence.

0-O-0

Xeno settled in to the bed in the Granger's guestroom. The children had fallen asleep not long before together in the living room. Within minutes Luna had wiggled around and lay sprawled across Harry and Hermione's legs. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the best way they could have chosen to spend the holiday.

0-O-0

Santa knew something was wrong, there were subtle clues. The magic he used to place everyone in a house to sleep while he was there hadn't affected an owl and cat, both of whom were now carefully watching him.

The three children he had come to see reeked of fairy magic, somehow.

Then the youngest sprung up and attached herself to his bag with a cry of 'mine!' Yes that was the big clue that something was wrong. Santa struggled to separate his bag from the blonde girl without success.

"Really Luna must you?" Hermione asked as she sat up and stretched. "Hello Santa."

"Its tradition." Luna said simply.

Harry just shook his head. Something's never changed. "I take it you're confused?"

"Very." Santa huffed as he lifted his bag. The girl, Luna, was still attached but at least she had stopped climbing around.

"Come into the kitchen and we'll explain over coco. Luna let that go." Hermione said.

"Fine." Luna dropped from Santa's sack. "But I can't help but feel that you're ruining a tradition."

Santa has seen many strange things in his life; he'd had a hand in more than a few if he was honest. He'd nearly been hit by rockets on three different occasions, been chased down by planes when muggles first figured out an advanced radar system, lead a fishing boat into the eye of a hurricane, appeared on 'pick a date' and learned why you shouldn't feed reindeer cabbage.

Still none of that prepared him for the story these children told, it was unbelievable. If it wasn't for the fairy magic still with them as evidence he'd have written this of as some crazy trap. Normally only the Japanese went that far.

During Voldemort's last war the fae had mostly been left alone, he doubted they'd be so lucky if that monster did return. Their knowledge of the ritual was spot on, and besides being completely unbelievable he had no reason not to believe them.

Still he had to wonder if they realized exactly what they had done. There was no way to combine a war hardened twenty something with a child, the two personalities would shred each other to pieces and leave nothing useable behind. While each of them might know what their older self knew they would have lost other things, habits, experience. For most purposes they were still children, smart children but children still. From the way they spoke though Santa knew they hadn't realized it.

Especially since they hadn't noticed the house elf standing in the corner watching them with a look of hero worship. No if they had retained any of their experience they'd have picked up on that.

"That is a quite a tale. I would offer my help but…"

"The rules that bind you forbid it." Luna finished for him. "We understand."

"Then the best I can do is wish you luck. Now I am rather behind so I shall take my leave." Santa finished his coco and stood. To his surprise Luna gave him a quick hug before he left. As he climbed into his sleigh Santa pondered what he could do to help without breaking his bond. There was one idea.

0-O-0

A scream tore through the Tonk's home early Christmas morning. Ted and Andromeda rushed into their daughter's room to find her surrounded by wrapping paper. "What's wrong?!"

Tonks looked at the sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just opening a gift from Harry, Hermione and Luna and well… see for yourself."

Andromeda took the small box and found a pair of concert tickets inside. "Iron Troll, The Weird Sister, Wrong End of the Broom, and The Black Cloaks?"

"I know! Such amazing bands and I get to go see them live!" Tonks shouted.

Ted rubbed his head wondering where to start.

0-O-0

While his grandmother said they opened gifts together since there were only two of them Neville always thought it was so he couldn't try to hide anything he got from her. They sat in the main sitting room, each with a small pile of packages before them. However unlike past years there was also a third pile with a single package. "Tippy, who is that gift for?"

"It is being for Trevor my lady." Tippy said.

"Neville, who sent your toad a Christmas gift?" Lady Long bottom asked.

"Eh, it's from Harry, Hermione and Luna." Neville said.

"Your friends sent your toad a gift?" She asked in disbelief.

"I guess so." Neville said. While he was somewhat used to Trevor's new abilities his grandmother was shocked when Trevor's tongue shot out and began to rip off the wrapping paper. Inside the box was a toad sized set of amour made out of dozens of metal plates. There was also an incredibly ugly mask that would fit over Trevor's head.

"They sent him, armor?" Neville's grandmother asked.

"Seems so." Neville said as he helped Trevor put the armor on. Ignoring the amphibian's comments about the armor being most useful.

"I don't suppose they saw fit to send _you_ anything?" She asked disapprovingly.

"Right here." Neville dragged over the largest box. Sitting inside on a glass container was another incredibly ugly mask along with a note. "Hermione says the mask is supposed to frighten away misfortune."

Augustus Longbottom was not sure she believed a mask could scare away misfortune but if it helped her grandson with his accidents then she would hold her tongue.

Neville pulled out the glass container, inside was some kind of Lilly pad floating in a foot of water. There was also a parchment attached to the glass. The Lilly was hard to kill, but would only grow the useful part of its root under certain conditions. He could leave it alone while he was at Hogwarts and work with it when he returned home.

It was his second favorite part of the day, the first being a stair down between Tippy and Trevor at dinner when Trevor tried to steal part of the turkey claiming it as conquest.

0-O-0

Several other students received various candies from the trio. The Weasley Twins got a small packet of notes about possible prank ideas. All things they had figured out in a few years.

0-O-0

To Harry, Hermione and Xeno's surprise Luna actually waited until after they ate a large breakfast before she pounced on the presents. Their presents to each other were more for amusement then anything; Hermione knitted Luna a wool cap complete with twelve butterbeer corks hanging around it. Harry had gotten her more painting supplies, though she was still refusing to let them see what she had already painted.

Harry received quidditch pads from the girls, he didn't miss the protective runes placed inside the padding either. Hermione received several books from Harry and Luna, but the look Harry gave her told Hermione there was more for later.

After the presents were all opened, including knit socks for Dobby, they returned to the Rookery. Luna hurried ahead of them to make sure the trap she had set the day before was disarmed. She was shocked when she found the trap sprung and Snape half buried under the couch. "Oh bollocks."

With no time to wonder what had happened or how he had gotten there Luna re-stunned Snape and unfolded the old bed from the couch, she manhandled Snape onto it and closed it back up. Luna knew from firsthand experience there was enough space for him inside the couch, so long as no one started jumping on it.

She reset the internal wards her father had placed as well, hiding any evidence someone had broken in. Another spell and the yarn was back into a neat ball. As soon as they stepped through the door Luna grabbed Harry and Hermione's hands and pulled them to her room, officially to put away her gifts. As soon as Luna's door closed she turned to them. "We have a problem. Snape's in my couch."

Hermione rubbed her eyes. "Snape… is in your couch. Luna!"

"I swear I don't know how it happened." Luna said her hands up to ward off Hermione's scolding. "When I came in to disarm my trap there was Snape already out cold. He'd also set off Daddy's internal wards but I reset those so he shouldn't know anyone else was here."

"Alright, we can assume he didn't accomplish what he came to do since it looks like he fell into Lunas trap. Eh what was your trap?" Hermione asked.

"Just a few trip wires and some attempts at a ward to confuse people. Then whatever Daddy set up, thankfully he tied it all back to a command charm so it was easy to reset." Luna explained.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Are you sure we need him alive? I seriously doubt Snape came to spread good cheer."

"Yes, until we can unravel the dark mark or he doesn't give us a choice. Remember we want to get all the marked Death Eater in one go." Hermione said.

"He broke into Luna's house Hermione."

"I know he did, and if anyone had been here... I know what he's capable of, but he's our best access to the dark mark." Hermione wasn't looking forward to having the same argument again.

Luna stepped between them. "We do need Snape for now. But we can make him regret ever coming here."

"You have an idea?"

"Of course." Luna gave her best innocent smile. Neither of them fell for it. "We can deal with him now and get rid of him, then find out why he was here when we get back to Hogwarts."

0-O-0

"Daddy have you shown the Grangers the little water fall along the stream?" Luna asked sweetly.

"No I haven't." Xeno said, really he had forgotten about it since it wasn't much of a waterfall, only a three foot drop, but to a child that was plenty he supposed.

"Then we must go and show them now! It'll be frozen and beautiful!" Luna grabbed Hermione's parents by the hand and pulled them towards the door.

"But our coats?" Emma said.

"Daddy knows warming charms." Luna said dismissively. "Harry and Hermione said they'd be along in a minute."

"Luna dear it isn't polite to drag people around like that." Xeno shouted as he chased after his daughter.

Harry and Hermione snuck down a moment later and liberated Snape from the couch, they disillusioned him and carried him outside before stuffing him under some bushes out of sight of the door. Another stunner for good measure and they went after the Lovegoods and Grangers.

After they had returned from the waterfall, which was admittedly beautiful despite its size they decided to play outside for a bit. At least that was what they told their parents before they grabbed Snape and disappeared to enact Luna's plan.

0-O-0

Mundungus was slinking his way down the alley, normally he let himself have Christmas off but this year his pickings had been a bit slim and he wanted to fit in as much 'working' time as he could. Besides those muggle Santa's seemed to have plenty of money, summoning a bit wouldn't be a problem.

Of course his plans didn't go off just right. It was probably the strange man wearing the dark cloak that appeared right on top of him that messed things up. He had just spotted a fat muggle with an even fatter wallet and cast the summoning charm when the cloaked man appeared, ruined his spell and let him get hit by a wet shoe that appeared instead of the desired money. "What's the big idea! I should report you! Interrupting a fine citizen like me."

The figure looked down at Mundungus. "You are a thief, you have a very long record, you were attempting to steal that man's wallet, to rob a muggle with magic. No you can do nothing to me; however I can make things very bad for you. But I won't, instead I'm going to hire you."

Now that was something Mundungus could understand. "What's the job and how much are you offering."

"Livestock management and whatever you can earn." The figure grabbed his arm and apparated them away.

Mundungus stepped away from the figure with a gasp, surprise apparition was not pleasant. But before he could complain the figure grabbed him and pulled him out of a thicket of bushes. In front of the thicket a large pole had been erected with the proper equipment so that the nearby horse could only walk in a circle. There was a line of people waiting for a turn to ride the strange horse. The creature itself was blue with a rainbow colored mane and tail. Stars and clouds had been painted onto his haunches.

"Are you insane, that'll blow the statue of secrecy to bits!" Mundungus hissed at the figure. Sure he was all for taking a bit from the muggles but not at the cost of exposing magic, that'd give away his edge.

"Calm yourself. They will simply think it is hair dye, which is what you will say should they ask. Now this is simple. Whatever money you make from offering rides you may keep." The figure said.

The line was pretty long, but the math wasn't adding up to Mundungus. "And what's your angle?"

"Simple, advertisements." The figure gestured towards a sign near the road that proudly proclaimed. 'Uncle Sleezys My Little Pony Rides!' with several sponsors listed below.

"Eh, might want to work on the name." Mundungus offered.

"Noted, now do you want to job?"

"Sure sure, seems easy." Mundungus said. This would make him some quick cash, and legally too! How novel.

"Good, you should know the horse is a bit mean, don't be afraid to lay into it with a branch, or a hex if no one's watching." The figure said before he vanished.

0-O-0

Mundungus smiled as he thumbed the ward of muggle notes in his hand. There had been a line most of the day and he'd made a decent profit. He'd also nicked a few things from people who weren't paying attention.

Just like the man said no one had batted an eye at the strangely colored horse, of course when you got close to it you could see it just had a bad dye job. Still the kids loved it. Shame it didn't seem to like the kids. Mundungus had needed to take a rod he had discretely conjured to it several times when it tried to bite a child. A few hexes and a threat or two and the horse had settled down.

As the sun began to set Mundungus helped the last child in line onto the horse. His thoughts drifting to getting one of his own. This was amazing, if he'd had a camera he'd have easily made twice as much. His mind was so caught up with his thoughts of setting up a similar operation he missed the horse changing.

It wasn't until the mother and daughter screamed that he turned and found the horse gone. Instead there was Severus Snape still tied to the pole with the girl on his back. Perhaps more disturbing was the pair of bright pink pajamas he was wearing.

The only thought to cross the small man's mind was that Dumbledore was going to be upset with him this time.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna waited until they returned to Luna's room before the broke into laughter. "How long will that transfiguration last?"

"I tied it to a ward, Snape will be back to normal when the last person leaves or he's taken more than a hundred feet from the ward." Hermione explained.

"You know he'll blame me for it right?" Harry asked.

"Of course, but without proof, and considering where we found him I doubt he'll come out and make a fuss." Hermione said.

"I can't wait until we get the diary and can leave. You two need to work on your parents and convince them to go somewhere with beaches." Harry said.

"Oh Harry." Luna pretended to swoon. "If you wanted to ogle us in our bathing suits you should have just said something."

"I want to ogle you in your bathing suits." Harry said with a flat expression. Before they all burst out laughing.

"Aren't you supposed to take us on a date or two first?" Hermione asked once she could breathe normally again.

"Huh, well that might be hard, how about another gift for each of you?" Harry asked as he pulled out two small boxes. "I was thinking of getting you a necklace or something but decided to be a bit more practical."

They opened the boxes to find what looked like a perfume bottle. "Thank you Harry." Hermione raised it up to spray a bit on her neck.

Harry leapt forward and pulled it away from her face. "I wouldn't point those at yourself."

Hermione looked at the bottle with concern. "Why? What does it do? Explode when you press down on it?"

"No, but that would have been cool. It's, well magical pepper spray. I had Dobby get the hottest peppers he could find, distilled them down, added a few things and used a charm to pressurize the bottles." Harry explained quickly. The last thing he needed to deal with was one of them spraying themselves.

Luna and Hermione traded a look before the both fell backwards. "Pepper spray! How romantic!" and broke into a fit of giggles.

"_You should have gotten them a plump mouse."_ Hedwig offered.

"_Oh yes, and maybe a bit of catnip. I think I saw a mouse outside if you want me and minion to go get it for you._" Crookshanks offered.

"You two aren't helping!" Harry shouted and set the girls off again.

Downstairs all the adults heard was Harry's final words followed by loud giggling. Each felt a bit sorry for Harry for having to deal with the two girls, outnumbered as he was. Not enough to go help him of course but enough to feel sorry for him.

Back in the room Harry got tired of waiting for the girls to control themselves and wondered to the window to watch the gentle snow fall outside. That was where he stood when he spotted something very wrong. A gaggle of redheads making their way towards the Rookery. "Weasleys incoming."

That sobered the girls who rushed to the window to see for themselves. "Two questions. What do they want, and why did they walk through the snow instead of flooing?"

0-O-0

(A/N: Sorry this is a bit late, the uploader was down. Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta drscot. If anyone is interested in filling my third Beta slot please PM me.)


	24. Return to Insanity

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Four: Return to Insanity

0-O-0

Luna hurried down the stairs. "Daddy, we have a problem!"

"What is it?" Xeno asked as he rose from the couch, the Grangers were a moment behind him.

"The Weasleys are coming up the lane." Luna explained what they had seen from her window.

"Weasley, as in the woman who tried to snatch you off the platform?" Dan asked. He didn't yet realize he was almost as protective of Luna as he was of Hermione.

"Don't worry dear, why don't the three of you stay upstairs while we take care of this." Xeno suggested. He wanted to believe the Weasleys were coming to make some type of amends for Molly's actions but he very much doubted it.

0-O-0

Ron trudged through the snow carrying a steaming pot with a warming charm placed on it. In fact each of them was carrying something their mum had cooked, rolls and bread, stew, a roast goose. Just thinking about it made his mouth water.

Molly had spent days preparing everything and then on Christmas she had attempted to floo to the Lovegoods with the food. That hadn't worked since the floo grate was closed. She had then apparated over and found no one home. She couldn't even get near the house as the wards rebuffed her. Molly only knew no one was home because she had used the floo again and began yelling.

She had been so upset she had tried to forbid her family from eating the dinner, after all it was meant to ensnare Harry. A few days with the Lovegoods and he would be begging for a proper English meal. Arthur had finally put his foot down and set his wife straight about letting them eat the meal.

So that morning Molly had woken up early and began to cook again, this time her plan wouldn't fail. She'd even sent Ginny out to check and her daughter had reported seeing Luna and Harry entering the house.

Of course that was also why she insisted they walk to the Lovegoods instead of floo, you could politely turn someone away at the floo but not when they had gone to the trouble to actually show up in person. It was perfect in her mind.

Ron didn't understand his mother's actions or care for the reason behind them. All he knew was that they were bringing food to Potter and he hated it. It didn't matter to Ron that he had eaten the same dinner the night before, or a large breakfast. No, all that mattered to him was that Potter was getting food and he wasn't allowed to even sample it! It was a disgrace.

0-O-0

It was tense in the Rookery. Xeno peeked out the window and saw the column of redheads making their way towards his door. He had asked the Grangers to stay back, he doubted Arthur would let it come to spells but Molly had a reputation for getting her way or throwing a fit.

A loud knock sounded through the quiet home. As Xeno went to answer he spotted the children sneaking a peek down the stairs. He opened the door and found the Weasleys crowded around the door, as much as they could with the stairs. "Well this is a surprise, what can I help all of you with? Out looking for Gimbbels? Well you won't find any out this time of year."

Dan tried not to laugh, over the last few months he had worked out half of the odd things Xeno said were because he liked messing with people. The other half he seemed to be serious about.

Molly chose to ignore his nonsense. "We thought you and your guest would enjoy a proper meal."

"Whatever makes you think we haven't had a proper meal?" Xeno asked, filled with fake innocence. Really Molly wasn't subtle enough to last on a proper expedition and he'd be damned if he couldn't see through her little game.

"Well you aren't exactly a cook." Molly said as she tried the slid past Xeno into his home, only to find the eccentric man blocking her way.

"I happen to think I am a fair cook but that wouldn't matter since the Grangers were kind enough to invite us over for Christmas. We had a marvelous meal." Xeno didn't think it was worth mentioning that Dobby had insisted on doing the cooking but so had Emma. In the end they both cooked and both had enjoyed the experience. Dobby had also begun to ask about cooking classes.

Molly frowned; sure those blasted muggles had stolen her idea for their own obnoxious daughter. "Well you won't have anything to eat then so let us in."

"Wrong again, Dobby is quiet a capable chef and has us well taken care of. Also it is considered rude among most of the world to demand to be let into someone else's house." Xeno's voice lost any hint of warmth it had previously had.

Percy frowned in thought. "Dobby, isn't that the name of the house elf Potter wanted to duel Malfoy for?"

"What!" Molly shrieked, nearly causing the twins to drop their plates as they flinched. "You let Harry duel! How dare you! This obviously isn't a safe or fit home for him I demand that you release him to us this instant!"

Her rant was cut off by a quick silencing charm from Xeno. No one had noticed him draw his wand. His voice was quiet but carried the authority of someone who had faced the very forces of nature itself and come through. "Enough. You will not demand anything of my family or Harry. Arthur, you have one minute to remove your wife from my property or I will be pressing charges for trespassing."

Arthur nodded, grabbed Molly's arm and began to pull her home. The others followed behind in shock. To them Xeno had always been the slightly insane man with the weird daughter, to see him as anything else was just too much. Surprisingly Ron was the first to recover. "Does this mean we can eat the food?"

"I think that was implied." Fred said sarcastically. To his surprise Ron tore the lid off his pot, pulled out a fork and speared a chunk of potato from the stew. He stuffed it into his mouth and chewed happily as they made their way home.

0-O-0

Dumbledore sighed, there was always so much to do and never enough time to do it. He had made good head way with his plans to ensure that Harry remained under his control no matter what happened with Black. He was however worried that Severus had yet to return. He had given him instruction to report back as soon as the job was done. That should have been that morning at the latest.

The Headmaster had even taken a trip to check the Lovegood house but everything appeared normal. His answer to his missing potion professor soon came when the fire flared green. "Dumbledore, sir."

He turned to find Fredric, a contact within the D.M.L.E. "Hello, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Sir, well we really aren't sure what to make of it but since it involves one of yours I thought I had best contact." Fredric fumbled to explain. "We received a call from Mundungus Fletcher this evening. When we got to his location we found two stunned muggles. And Severus Snape in pink sleep wear with a saddle tied to a pole…"

"I'm sorry, you what?" Dumbledore asked as he attempted to understand what he had just heard.

"Severus Snape wearing some type of pink sleep wear, with a saddle on, tied to a pole." Fredric repeated. "Mundungus claims a mysterious man hired him to run some kind of muggle animal ride. The memories of the muggles confirmed this before we fixed them."

"I see, I will be there momentarily to sort this out." Dumbledore said. Yes something had definitely gone wrong with his plan.

0-O-0

Two hours later and Dumbledore was no closer to understanding just what had happened. Severus had been unable to provide much information past entering the Lovegood home. It appeared he had somehow been hit with a powerful confundus charm. The next thing he remembered was coming awake as a horse and being forced to spend the day giving children rides while Mundungus threatened to make him into stew.

Mundungus had not been able to reveal much more, a mysterious man had indeed hired him to run the horse ride for the day. There were no clues that Dumbledore could find. There was however a more sinister option. This could be another message for him. Someone who knew what he was doing, as they had been ready to ambush Severus. Someone who knew, not only his main supporters, but those who did odd jobs for him under the table, like Mundungus. Really Dumbledore could find no other reason for the small time crook's involvement.

When asked, Severus declined to file charges or a report against whoever had humiliated him. First he wanted as little evidence that this ever happened to exist. Secondly he wanted to plan his own revenge. While he again had no way to prove it Snape was certain Potter was behind this. It stank of his father and those miserable friends of his.

0-O-0

Upon his return to Hogwarts Dumbledore was disheartened to find he had missed over a dozen floo calls from a very upset Molly Weasley. While he was perfectly happy to have not spoken with her he knew she would just be more upset that he was gone. If only her family wasn't so important to his plans.

With a resigned sigh Dumbledore traveled to the Burrow and was treated to a great deal of complaints briefly interrupted by the actual events that had so displeased her. Once he was able to work out what she was saying Dumbledore was struck by inspiration on another way to remove Harry from the Lovegoods. He happily hummed to himself as he escaped from Molly's invitation to dinner. "Let's see my adversary stop this."

0-O-0

Judge Cortus was quickly becoming annoyed with Dumbledore, even more so than he had previously been. Something he hadn't believed possible. Still Dumbledore had raised a valid concern and he was now duty bound to investigate. A quick floo call and he was invited through.

"I apologize for interrupting your evening. As I said I am the judge currently in charge of Mr. Potter's custody and an issue was raised that I needed to investigate." Judge Cortus said formally as he took in the ground floor of the Lovegood home.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Harry said and shook his hand. "What issues was raised?"

"You have a house elf I believe?" He asked.

"Yes sir. Dobby." Harry called.

"And did you win him in a duel against Mr. Malfoy?" Judge Cortus asked.

"No sir, I made a bet with Draco and won. I never dueled him." Harry explained.

"Well that's good; the complaint was that Mr. Lovegood was allowing you to duel." He explained to them.

"But sir." Hermione interrupted. "Wouldn't Harry have gotten in trouble for using magic outside of school if he had dueled Draco?"

Judge Cortus came up short. Really it was an obvious question he hadn't thought to ask. "Yes, he would have. That completely slipped my mind. Just out of curiosity what would you have paid had you lost the bet?"

"A number of hours in which Draco would try to convince me muggle-borns are inferior to pure bloods." Harrys tone left no room for misunderstanding on how he felt about the matter.

Xeno clapped his hands. "Well now that everything is settled how would you like to stay for coffee with us?"

"I would enjoy that." Judge Cortus said. This was a good opportunity to better observe Harry with his friends and meet their parents. While he was no stranger to the muggle world he was never able to keep up with it either and had a few questions for the Grangers.

"Wonderful, just watch out for the pudding." Xeno recommended.

"Not good?" The judge asked.

"No it's wonderful but Luna has been known to bite at fingers that get too close to her pudding. Actually I've never seen her share her desert with anyone but Harry and Hermione." Xeno explained as several plates appeared with light food.

0-O-0

Theodore smiled as he slipped out of the shop hidden in Knockturn Alley. A vial rested comfortably in his pocket. He had been forced to bribe a 'friend' of his father's to finally get the potion he wanted but it would be worth it to embarrass Potter. He also thought he had finally worked out a way to insure that Potter's embarrassment was as public as possible.

"Papa?"

Theodore spun around to find a strange puppet standing behind him. He recognized it from several stories done in the Daily Prophet. "Be gone, I am not your father."

"Papa? Are you proud of me now papa?"

"Eh yes, fine I am proud." Theodore said trying to get the strange puppet to leave him alone. Unfortunately that was the wrong thing to say.

The puppet jumped up and clamped onto Theodore. Dragging the hood of his cloak over his face.

An hour later an angry Theodore returned home. He had run into a wall and the puppet had stolen his potion. When he had gone back to get more his fathers 'friend' had actually charged him more for the second dose! Theodore vowed that when he became the head of his family he would deal with that man.

He fingered the potion in his pocket; at least he'd be able to deal with Potter soon.

0-O-0

"Dumbledore! Dumbledore I must speak with you! Let me through!" A voice called out from the Headmasters fireplace.

Dumbledore looked and saw the face of one of his potion suppliers. "You know I don't like taking chances that someone will connect us, just tell me what you have to say and go."

"I can't, I have to show you." The man whined.

"Very well." Dumbledore unlocked his floo for travel. A moment later the man stepped out and tossed a muggle newspaper onto his desk.

"We have a problem. Look at that."

The newspaper contained a story about a cargo ship that sank in port after a malfunction with the engines caused it to ram the docks. "I don't see what the problem is."

"Your order was on that ship. I went to try and retrieve it before anyone could find it but the cargo was gone. Well not everything but your order and several other crates. What's worse is that there are traces of magic in the engines." The man explained as he fiddled with his crumpled hat.

Dumbledore resisted urge to curse. "Have you reported this to the Ministry?"

"Of course not! That cargo was being smuggled in, no paper work, I couldn't explain it!" The man shouted.

"Excellent. I will take care of everything. How soon can you have a replacement shipped? I need those ingredients." Dumbledore asked.

"I don't know, a few weeks at least. Maybe we'll get lucky and whoever took the cargo will trip the safety ward I put inside the crate." The man said, yes that would cover his tracks nicely.

"We shall see, now I am busy."

"Yes, yes." The man exited through the floo.

This couldn't be a coincidence. Everything that had happened, all the warnings. We know how to get to you inside Hogwarts, we know who works for you, we know where you get your supplies. Whoever Dumbledore was dealing with was systematically boxing him in. He needed to prepare, but he couldn't be distracted from Harry either. There was too much to do.

It would be so much easier if Rita was willing to do what she normally did, but now she refused to write anything against Potter without proof. As he looked at the newspaper Albus had an idea, there were others besides Rita, with a bit of backing, yes, she could work.

He grabbed a quill and began to pen his message. Half way through the parchment he stopped and gagged as his office was filled with the smell of rancid dragon dung. An air freshening charm helped only for a few moments. Dumbledore became so focused on locating the source of the smell he never saw the Sorting Hat chuckle from his shelf.

0-O-0

Lucius Malfoy looked over the large crates that had appeared in an isolated warehouse on a property that could not be traced back to him under heavy wards. While he had little use for muggle items there were plenty of people willing to sell them for him. Now he just needed to see if he could identify what he had taken.

The first crate was filled with plastic inflatable people of some type. The second a muggle sleeping potion. All worthless. He did not hold out much hope for the last crate being anything but another disappointment. He vanished the lid and barely had time to see that the contents were potion ingredients before the wards kicked in and threw him back. Just ahead of the fireball the engulfed the crates.

Protecting Malfoy was not actually part of the wards; their purpose was to protect what was stored within the warehouse. They had recognized him as flammable near a fire and forced him back, lacking the power to do so with the other crates they instead sealed the area to prevent further damage.

Lucius watched in shock as his stolen goods were destroyed. He didn't need Severus to know the bright blue flames indicated the presence of magical items within the fire. As he sat there, his hair curling from the heat Lucius wondered how a magically trapped crate had found its way onto a muggle ship.

0-O-0

The remainder of the holidays past quickly for the trio. They managed to sneak over to Potter Manor a few times and check on Slytherin who was happily sleeping in an expanded room in the basement. They took care of a few other things before they returned to the Grangers for another sleepover.

On New Year both Hermione and Luna kissed Harry's cheek, much to his embarrassment and the adults amusement. Two days later news of Sirius's trial arrived. Harry was granted permission to go by Judge Cortus and Hermione and Luna were soon included as emotional support. Xeno would accompany them and double as part of the limited press allowed in.

None noticed when several days after Christmas Santa visited the Rookery and whispered something to Xeno while he slept.

0-O-0

On the day they returned to Hogwarts they left early, after a large breakfast at the Rookery with the Grangers, to claim a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They each had their trunks shrunk and settled into their pockets. They'd put fake trunks onto the train filled with a few robes and books so as not to arouse suspicion.

They greeted their friends and exchanged stories about their break. Until the compartment door was thrown open and Tonks came in. She grabbed Harry and pulled him into a hug. "Most. Amazing. Gift. Ever!"

"Hey, only we can hug Harry like that!" Luna complained.

In response Tonks dropped Harry and grabbed both Luna and Hermione in another Hug. "Thank you all! It was incredible! And after the concert I got pulled back stage to meet the Weird Sisters! Did you know that promoter you got the tickets from said his daughter still hasn't stopped talking about that picture you took with her. Oh and Kirley Duke actually talked to me! So did his sister Meghan, she's the Keeper for the Pride of Portree."

"Tonks, Tonks breathe!" Hermione said as she freed herself from the excited girl.

After an embarrassed laugh Tonks scratched her neck. "Sorry, but it was so amazing!"

"We're glad you enjoyed it." Luna said.

0-O-0

As the younger students listened to stories about the concert Theodore sat alone in a compartment. As soon as the train and begun to move he summoned his family's house elf and commanded it to retrieve Potters trunk from the luggage car.

Most of the old families instructed their elves not to answer a student's call while they were at Hogwarts. The Death Eater families had a slightly different view. The children could call their family elves but they were instructed not to be caught doing so. If they were, the child was punished severely. As a result most didn't bother, by second year most were in the habit of not even thinking of their elves while at Hogwarts. The Hogwarts elves were also charged with keeping family elves out and only the very sneakiest were able to get by them. Of course that protection did not extend to the Hogwarts Express.

With Harry's trunk in front of him Theodore pulled out the potion he had gone to so much trouble to get, a bit soaked into a few robes or underwear and Potter wouldn't know what happened. Unfortunately his brilliant plan hit one small snag. The trunk refused to open and no matter what he tried it refused to obey him. Even ordering the elf to open it had no effect, as the elf tried to explain another elf had sealed it.

After punishing the elf for its failure Theodore did the only thing left to him. He doused the outside of the trunk in half the potion. It might still work; he'd save the rest to see if a better opportunity presented itself. Once done he ordered the now limping elf to return the trunk to the luggage car.

0-O-0

Ginny sat at the kitchen table at the Burrow rereading a charms book while she waited for the potion she was brewing to reach the next stage. While her mum assured her that Dumbledore would make sure she ended up in Harry's year Ginny was determined to take the spot of top student away from that Granger girl and Luna. If Harry wanted the smartest witch then that was who he would have. Ginny just needed to make sure that was her.

0-O-0

Dumbledore waited in his office, normally he would be preparing for the feast to welcome the students back to Hogwarts. But tonight he had other things he needed to do. He had instructed the elves to bring Harry's trunk directly to his office. He'd add a few tracking charms, he doubted they would stay long, but they didn't need to. He had found a way around the charms in the form of a potion, that when applied to an item allowed it to be located again. It was complex but untraceable by detection charms. A few listening charms would round things out. Who knew he might get lucky, the last few days seemed to have gone his way.

Except for the whispers he had heard. Between his and Severus's contacts he had been able to piece together a bit of information. The most likely culprit was a man going by the name of Ash. Little else was known about him, but there were rumors. He had a phoenix, he had a nundu, he could walk through walls. One version had him as a former member of Dumbledore's own Order of the Phoenix, this was the worrying one. It would explain how this Ash person knew so much and was able to interfere.

Dumbledore had begun to review those who belonged to the Order and had died, apparently one of them wasn't as dead as he believed.

When Harry's trunk arrived he put the problem of Ash from his mind and focused to his plan. Except the trunk did not easily open and appeared to have been covered in something sticky. Wonderful. He took out his wand and began to work on the locking charms; they were impressive for a first year, or a fifth. Harry must have asked one of the upper years for help. Perhaps the girl, Tonks. Dumbledore giggled as he imagined Tonks turning into an elephant and scolding Professor McGonagall.

Wait that wasn't right was it?

0-O-0

The students were seated as well as the professors. The only person missing was the Headmaster who had informed the heads of house that he might be a few minutes late. At the twenty minute mark Dumbledore finally appeared, dressed in a red uniform several muggle-borns recognized as belonging to a 'Canadian Mounty'.

"Good news everybody!" Dumbledore shouted. "I have decided to follow my lifelong dream of moving to Canada and hunting the three great ooses. The moose, the goose and the baboose or as you non-canucks might know it. The beaver. Expect my first shipment in a month!"

The great hall remained silent as Dumbledore spun around and marched towards the gate. McGonagall was the first to snap herself out of her daze and rushed after the Headmaster, followed closely by Snape. She yelled back to the staff when she reached the door. "Keep the students here!"

An excited and worried murmur broke out among the students. Harry, Hermione and Luna exchanged looks, none could come up with what change had caused Dumbledore to appear to go completely dragon dung crazy. As the minutes dragged on the students began to get agitated. Finally the other professors, in an attempt to calm and distract them called for the feast to begin.

No one noticed the DADA professor slip away from the staff table.

The opportunity was perfect as far as Voldemort was concerned. Something had clearly gone wrong for the Headmaster. Now was his chance to take the stone and restore his body. He would command the basilisk to kill the Cerberus then proceed to the great hall. That would cause more than enough chaos to distract anyone who could stop him.

It only took minutes before Voldemort's host was standing before the doors to the Chamber of Secrets. He commanded them to open and stepped inside calling for the basilisk. Torches flared to life, Slytherin's stone mouth opened, and nothing. Voldemort called out again, demanding that the creature show itself.

Still nothing answered his call. Quirrell whimpered as he felt his master's anger. Voldemort did not understand, the ritual he had used years before placed a piece of himself within the basilisk. Not enough to anchor him to life if he died but enough to exert control over the basilisk. It had been an excellent practice run to insure his immortality and allowed him to use the basilisk to take revenge on his enemies and prove his might to those who would become his powerbase. To prove his claim as the true heir of Slytherin.

To have the beast refuse his call, for his forefathers basilisk to refuse him. It was as if his heritage as the last of Slytherins line was being questioned and he refused to stand for such an insult.

Following his masters orders Quirrell climbed into the statues mouth to find the basilisk who would dare defy Voldemort. When he reached the heated chamber where the large snake had rested since the school had first been established they found it empty.

Quirrell collapsed whimpering on the stone floor as his master screamed in rage. His plan, the perfect opportunity, ruined! If only his worthless vessel was not so weak. Most of Quirrell's magic was being used to sustain his presence, soon even that would not be enough and he would be forced to take other measures. There were potions yes, potions Severus could brew but until he had a body again Voldemort dared not to contact other followers. He was under no illusion of the opportunity many of them would find with his weakened state.

As his host withered on the floor Voldemort tried to focus. He needed the stone, but to get the stone he needed more time. Time to find a way past that blasted Cerberus. And his greatest tool had abandoned him!

0-O-0

At Potter Manor, in a basement room Slytherin turned in his sleep, unware of the call from the dark speaker.

0-O-0

The feast had finished, the meal was done, the desert cleared. Well except around Ron who had eaten everything before it could be cleared. The remaining professors sat nervously. During the feast Professor Flitwick had left to find out what had happened. All he had been told was to keep everyone in the great hall, McGonagall had ordered it with her position as Deputy Headmistress.

The Charms professor was about to check again when McGonagall and Snape entered again. The hall went silent. "Students, it is my duty to inform you that this evening Headmaster Dumbledore suffered from an attack perpetrated by one of our own. It is with much regret that I must ask Mr. Potter to come with us. You are to be placed under arrest."

Gasps sounded throughout the great hall, along with protests from the Hufflepuff table. None louder than Hermione and Luna. "But Professor Harry has been with us all day!"

"Quiet girl." Snape snapped at her before he grabbed Harrys arm and pulled him up. Snape wore a look of pure glee as he forced Harry to march towards the doors.

The entire night took on a surreal feel for Harry. A single question forced its way to the front of his mind. "I thought only Aurors could arrest people?"

"Quiet Potter." Snape hissed at him.

"Miss Granger! That will be fifty points for drawing a wand on a professor." McGonagall said. No one had seen Hermione draw her wand, stand and point it at Snape's back. Luna's own wand was halfway up as well. Harry turned as far as he could and gave a slight shake of his head. Hermione and Luna getting dragged somewhere wouldn't help him. He just hoped they figured something out before Harry had to call for Dobby or Hedwig to help him. That could give everything away.

Hermione lowered her wand reluctantly and sat back down. McGonagall watched her for a moment longer before she turned and left the great hall with Snape and Harry. She didn't feel comfortable with this but she had little choice. After they had caught up to Albus and turned him over to Poppy she had informed them that he was suffering the effects of a powerful potion meant to interfere with his mind. It would take her time to identify it.

McGonagall had accompanied Severus to the Headmasters office to try and locate the source of the potion, which was not difficult to do as the portraits were able to inform them of what Dumbledore had been doing before he had begun to act strangely.

Even without their help though it would have been fairly evident as Harry Potter's trunk lay open on the floor. Snape had bent down and examined the trunk and personal items. She never saw him discreetly wipe one of Harry's robes along the side of his trunk before he showed her to potion covered robe. It had taken time but Snape finally convinced her that the only two explanations were either Harry put the potion on his robes or that Dumbledore had.

When McGonagall had tried to suggest that someone was attempting to potion Harry, Snape had pointed out that anyone who could get into Harry's trunk would have used a poison. This had all the signs of a poorly planned Potter prank.

There really was no choice for McGonagall. She had to do something before she lost control of the school. She was sure once Dumbledore had recovered he would sort everything out, and if necessary she would privately apologize to Harry.

They reached McGonagall's office and stepped inside. Snape shoved Harry into a chair then turned to his fellow professor. "Perhaps you should return to the feast and dismiss the students. I will guard Mr. Potter."

"Thank you Severus." McGonagall said before she left her office.

Snape turned and smiled cruelly towards Harry. A flick on his wand and a muttered spell had ropes bind Harry to the chair. "Well Potter, what ever shall we do with you I wonder?"

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	25. Crooky Legs to the Rescue

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Five: Crooky Legs to the Rescue

0-O-0

The students of Hogwarts watched as Harry was removed from the great hall. Some watched in disbelief, others with expressions of glee. Nott couldn't believe his luck. Somehow the Headmaster had gotten dosed with the potion and now Potter was being blamed for it! This was too good. He had to bite his tongue to keep from smiling too much. Not that it would have been noticed among the Slytherin table.

The remaining staff and prefects tried to maintain order among the students. Hermione grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her down the table to Susan. "Do you have any way to contact your aunt quickly?"

"Yes. You want me to contact her?" Susan asked. Technically her aunt had said only to use it in an emergency but this had to be one. Harry Potter had just been arrested, by professors who legally couldn't arrest someone, for an attack against the Headmaster. Susan rationalized that her aunt should be informed anyways.

"Please, we need to help Harry as soon as we can." Hermione said. While she watched Susan pull out a small badge and tap it with her wand Luna yanked her hand free and pulled a piece of paper and pen from her robes. They were much easier to carry then parchment, quill and ink.

"Dobby." Luna called quietly.

As soon as the elf appeared, even before he could ask what was needed Luna shoved the note at him. "Take that to Judge Cortus, Harry is in trouble."

Dobby vanished with a determined look.

"My aunt should be here soon. I hope she's not mad that I called her for this." Susan said, a hint of doubt crept into her voice.

"If she is just blame it on us." Hermione offered.

0-O-0

Judge Cortus sat near the fire, a fine wine and a good muggle mystery novel would make it a wonderful evening. Unfortunately his plan was derailed when his house elf Scribble popped into the room, wrestling with another elf. "You's can not be barging into others houses!"

"Great Harry Potter sir is in trouble!" The second elf shouted. As he did he threw Scribbles onto the sofa before he turned to Judge Cortus. "You's must help."

Judge Cortus took the note offered by the house elf, Dobby as he recalled and read it quickly. "Scribbles fetch my cloak."

When he turned back to ask Dobby for more information he found the house elf gone.

0-O-0

Madam Bones had stayed late to work on the never ending paper work that seemed the have clogged her office recently. It had never been so bad when she started. In fact it was always manageable until Fudge became Minister. He insisted on things that could be handled by others to be sent to her desk. She was sure he was doing it just to bog her down, but the exact reason still escaped her.

Like this one, she picked up an application for a new apparition point in Diagon Alley. That should have gone to magical transportation. Madam Bones had just sent the form to the proper department when her heart nearly stopped in fear. The badge in her breast pocket, linked to the one she had given her niece, vibrated urgently.

A sigh of relief escaped her when she snatched the badge out and saw the code, Susan was fine but a friend was in trouble. She knew her niece wouldn't have used her badge unless it was serious. Madam Bones grabbed three aurors who had just gotten back from their dinner break. "We're heading to Hogwarts to check something. Keep your wands ready."

0-O-0

Judge Cortus arrived outside the Hogwarts gates just as Hagrid opened them for Madam Bones and her aurors. He hurried to join them. Madam Bones barely spared him a glance. "Well this is a surprise."

"Yes, I just received a note from Harry Potter's house elf. Apparently some of the professors have arrested him for a supposed attack on Dumbledore." Judge Cortus explained.

Madam Bones almost stumbled. "There is so much wrong with what you just said I don't know where to begin."

"I would start at the fact that professors can apparently arrests students now." The judge said as they approached the great hall.

"I think I'm more concerned with the fact that a student supposedly attacked Dumbledore and no one has reported it to my department yet." Madam Bones said.

"I thought that was why you were here." Judge Cortus said with a hint of curiosity.

"No, my niece sent a message that a friend was in trouble. I suppose that would be Mr. Potter." Madam Bones said as they stepped into the great hall.

The scene inside Hogwarts was not what anyone was expecting. It seemed most of Hufflepuff was quarrelling with McGonagall, at least if the bits Madam Bones was able to make out through the shouted words was anything to go by. She raised her wand and set off a cannon blast charm to grab their attention.

McGonagall was the first to recover. "Amelia what are you doing here?"

"I'm about to find out. Susan what happened?" Madam Bones asked as she made her way over to her niece.

"Oh Auntie! The Headmaster came to the feast acting very strange, then McGonagall and Snape dragged Harry away saying he was under arrest for attacking the Headmaster." Susan tried to explain.

Madam Bones turned to McGonagall. "And where is Mr. Potter now?"

"He is in my office under the supervision of Severus…" That was as far as McGonagall got.

"Are you insane!" Hermione and Luna shouted. "Snape hates Harry, how could you leave him alone with that Death Eater!"

"Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood I can assure you Severus would not harm Mr. Potter." McGonagall said, tired of having her actions questioned that evening, especially by students. She was doing the best she could with what she had and they needed to understand that.

"I demand to speak with my ward immediately." Judge Cortus said in a tone that had caused more than one petty thief to become incontinent. He was not a fan of Dumbledore and it didn't sit well with him that Severus Snape had gotten off just because Dumbledore had vouched for him without offering any real explanations.

"Very well. All students are to return to their common room immediately. If you would follow me." McGonagall led the judge and aurors to her office. If any noticed Hermione and Luna following them they chose not to comment. "I can assure you that Mr. Potter is perfectly fine."

McGonagall's prediction appeared false as they neared her office and heard Harry yelling for help.

0-O-0

Snape was practically salivating; Potter was tied up in a chair, completely helpless. Harry or James it didn't matter, this was what he had been waiting for. His fingers twitched in anticipation. The only shadow over his happy mood was the knowledge that he had to hold back. Nothing too serious, nothing that a healer could trace back to him, unless he could think of an excuse, that was. Still he knew many ways, perhaps he should shatter Potter's mind, he could say the brat tried to escape and hit his head. Maybe some of the slow acting torture curses, those could take weeks to be found.

"Potter, Potter…. Potter. It is time for you to pay for your family's unbearable attitude. I will take great joy from torturing you; I will leave you with just enough mental capabilities to understand what I do to your bints. Or maybe I will paralyze you. Imagine being stuck in your body, unable to communicate, to do anything. Imagine watching the looks on your bitches as they watch you waste away." Snape's voice was filled with ecstasy as he spoke. He should have done that to Potter when they were students. If only he had been brave enough.

Harry felt sick. He knew Snape was a bastard but this, had he always been this sick? He knew Hermione and Luna would be there soon with help, or just break down the door. He wouldn't bet on which one. For now he just needed to keep Snape talking. The longer the bastard talked the better chance Harry had of someone showing up without him having to curse Snape. Not that he wasn't itching to.

Thankfully neither McGonagall nor Snape had thought to take his wand. The ropes that bound him made it difficult but Harry managed to grasp the wooden handle. If Snape tried anything he could retaliate, and he'd only need one spell. "And how do you think you'll get away with any of that? Especially if you just told me?"

"Insolent brat, there are such a thing as memory charms, not that I would expect you to understand the subtly needed for such magics. Yes I think that is how it will happen. You will try to attack me and be horribly injured in the attempt. I will take great pleasure in _defending_ myself. A few memory charms and, well I'll leave the rest up to you. Everything changes now. Now I will finally have my pound of flesh for all the misery the Potters have caused me." Snape debated which curse to use. Perhaps a cutting curse to one of his eyes? That would disfigure his face and end his career as seeker. Yes that would be his first curse. Then maybe something to crush his hand.

With almost orgasmic glee Snape raised his wand towards the bound student and stepped forward to take his first piece of revenge. His spell never left his wand though as something slammed into his knees from behind and sent him towards the floor.

Harry prepared to defend himself before Snape stumbled and fell. There was an unearthly howl that he recognized before Snape caught himself against the mantle of McGonagall's fireplace. Only for a large vase to crash onto the potion masters head and spill floo powder across the carpet.

Snape's head snapped down from the strike, and slammed into in to the stone. Dazed he never saw several more items move along the mantle before they fell onto him. Including a large book of Hogwarts rules.

"_Minion Bird nest?"_ Crookshank's disembodied voice called out from near his feet.

"I'm fine, thanks." Harry said.

"_No problem. The other minions would be most displeased should anything happen to you. And no one else may mess with _my_ minions. These are mighty ropes; it will take time for me to free you."_ Crookshanks said from somewhere behind him.

Personally Harry wasn't sure about that, he had been the victim of the kitten's claws and teeth more than once. "That's alright; if you can just stay invisible I'll start shouting for help. Someone will be along soon."

"_If you are sure."_ Crookshanks became invisible and returned towards the one who would dare to threaten his family while Harry began to yell for help. Well his minion had never said anything about not further humiliating the smelly man. The kitten sniffed around him and saw the fairy tattoo peek out from Snape's robes before it disappeared.

0-O-0

As soon as they heard Harry's yell the aurors began to sprint forward. They were out paced by Hermione and Luna though who had their wands up and began to fire curses at McGonagall's door as soon as they rounded the last corner. Five curses to weaken the wood to little more the sawdust and a reducto saw the door completely destroyed.

Harry's yells turned into coughs as the room was filled with wood dust. Hermione and Luna were by his side in seconds with the stunned aurors a moment behind. McGonagall was spitting mad though and let her frustration be known. "What do you think you are doing! Destroying school property! I should suspend both of you!"

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you!" Hermione shouted right back. "A student was shouting for help while trapped in a room with a Death Eater and you're worried about a door? Look at Harry, he's tired up. Do you think that's the proper way to deal with a student because if it is you're as crazy as Dumbledore!"

"How dare you. The Headmaster is a great man and personally vouched for Severus…"

She was cut off when Hermione went to Snape and grabbed his arm. She tore the sleeve back to expose the faded dark mark. "You don't get that without doing a lot of bad things. You left Harry Potter alone in a room with someone who was marked by Voldemort, not only that but you taught Snape and Harry's father, you know Snape hated him."

"I will not be spoken to in such a disrespectful manner Miss Granger." McGonagall started.

"I think she is correct." Judge Cortus said. "You can see Mr. Potter is tied to a chair. That alone should be enough for you to discipline that Death Eater. Yet you yell at another student who did your job for you. While I may not be able to bring charges against this disgrace of a human I will strongly advise Mr. Potter's guardian to do so as soon as one is decided. As well as against you. Until then I demand my ward be removed from any class or activity that would see him in contact with Severus Snape."

McGonagall wasn't sure what to say or do. She wasn't even sure she was correct anymore. Instead of trying to puzzle it out though she went to her fireplace and summoned Poppy to check on Severus while the aurors freed Harry.

Madam Bones wasn't sure who she should arrest at the point but it was tempting to just take everyone in. Instead she made her way towards Harry while he held a girl in either arm. Not that she could blame any of them. "Mr. Potter, since Mr. Snape is unavailable at the moment could you please tell me what happened this evening?"

"Well Dumbledore was late to the feast and when he showed up he said some weird stuff about going to Canada to hunt beavers. McGonagall and Snape ran after him. The other professors started the feast. Just as we were finishing McGonagall and Snape came back in and dragged me away saying I was under arrest for attacking the Headmaster. Can they do that? Arrest me I mean?" Harry asked as he attempted to portray a frightened student. The fact that he had Hermione and Luna held against him and they had truly been worried only helped his appearance.

"No Mr. Potter rest assured they can not arrest a student." Madam Bones said.

"That's a relief, when _I_ asked they ignored me. They brought me here and Snape told McGonagall to go back to the great hall to take care of the other students while he guarded me. After she left he tied me up. I don't know what he was planning to do to me but he had his wand out before he tripped and hit the fireplace. Then things just started falling on him." Harry said, he decided to keep what Snape had said quiet so they could deal with him personally. The judge keeping him from Snape's class was a bonus. Now to see if they could get Mr. Lovegood to agree to it without telling the Grangers.

"He just fell?" Madam Bones asked skeptically, if it wasn't for the fact that she had seen him tied to the chair she would have called Harry a liar.

"Yes ma'am. Almost like he'd been hit from behind but I didn't see anything. Then the things on the mantle moved around and fell on his head.

One of the aurors offered an explanation. "Madam Bones, it sounds like a poltergeist to me."

"Peeves?" Madam Bones asked. She was familiar with the specter from her own time at Hogwarts. He was a possibility.

"Impossible." McGonagall said as she rejoined them. "He is bound by the magic of the school to hurt no one."

"Are you sure? I seem to recall some of his pranks hurt a few students while I was here. Nothing serious but still." An auror said.

"Could he harm to defend a student?" Another asked.

"I am, unsure." McGonagall admitted. "I will speak with Albus once he is well."

"Yes, what exactly happened to him and what made you suspect Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones asked.

She along with the aurors and Judge Cortus were shocked as McGonagall told them about finding Harry's truck in the Headmasters office and how Snape convinced her that Harry was behind whatever happened. It was madness to them that McGonagall had gone along with Snape on such flimsy evidence or how many procedures she had broken.

Madam Bones was sure she would need a headache potion before the night was over. "Let me see if I understand. For whatever reason Dumbledore had Mr. Potter's trunk in his office. After you had taken him to the infirmary it was discovered that he had come into contact with a powerful mind based potion that causes, for lack of a better term, temporary insanity?"

"Correct." McGonagall nodded.

"So you went to his office and discovered the trunk, open. And Snape claimed there were traces of such a potion on Mr. Potter's robes. He then convinced you that Mr. Potter had dosed his own robes in the potion." Madam Bones said. So far it was almost understandable.

"Yes, naturally we decided to detain him until things could be sorted out." McGonagall said with a bit of relief, it seemed things would turn out alright for her after all. Madam Bones was very understanding.

"So tell me is it against the school rules for a student to use a potion on their robes?" Madam Bones asked.

"Well no, but Albus was…"

"That doesn't matter. Unless the potion was one banned or restricted by the Ministry no rules or laws were broken by Mr. Potter even if he was the one who dosed his own robes." When you considered that the Ministry was reluctant to ban or even restrict most potions Madam Bones very much doubted whatever was used was on the short list.

"I didn't do anything to my robes. And I want to know why Dumbledore was going through my trunk in the first place." Harry demanded.

"As do I. Does he make it a habit of riffling through students trunks?" Judge Cortus asked.

"I am sure he had his reasons." McGonagall said, though she was pale as it set in just how badly things had gone.

"Moving on, you took the word of Mr. Snape that there was a potion there at all." Madam Bones said.

"He is a Potion Master and Albus trusts him." McGonagall said weakly.

"Well I don't. Lucy, Tim, go collect Mr. Potter's trunk and any other belongings to test for potions. Mr. Potter I'm afraid we'll have to hold your trunk at this time for evidence." Madam Bones said as she turned back to the students.

"That's fine; I can borrow stuff from Hermione and Luna until I get it back. Eh, I don't suppose you could have them washed before you return them? It's kind of creepy knowing the Headmaster did who knows what to them." Harry said. Though he'd probably just burn them later since his real trunk was still safely stashed in his pocket.

"Of course. Now let's move on to you arresting a student in the great hall. I don't recall professors having that ability." Madam Bones leveled a steely gaze on the Deputy Headmistress. She hated when people tried to take the law into their own hands. "Or perhaps you'd tell us why you didn't report this so called attack on the Headmaster?"

"I was busy trying to keep the students calm and hadn't had a chance to report it yet. I admitted I erred in the handling of Mr. Potter and for that I am sorry." McGonagall said.

"Oh sure, bad mouth him in the great hall, let all the students think he's responsible for Dumbledore going crazy and publicly humiliate him but apologize in private. That works." Luna said sarcastically.

"I agree. You should publicly apologize to Mr. Potter." Judge Cortus said.

"That can be arranged later, provided I don't have her arrested." Madam Bones said.

"What? Why would you arrest me?" McGonagall asked completely flabbergasted. It was unthinkable; she had only been looking out for the school after all.

"Let's see, I think child endangerment, unlawful arrest and if it was illegal general stupidity! What were you thinking? Right, nothing. You listened to a Death Eater over Harry Potter, dragged the child from the great hall with no proof that any rule, much less a law, had been broken. Then left Harry Potter locked in a room with said Death Eater. I think you should get checked out as well because it sounds like you also came into contact with whatever got Dumbledore." Madam Bones could not believe it. If this was what Hogwarts had come to she would have to think about sending her niece somewhere else.

"I'd be more than happy to examine her." Poppy said as she joined them. Snape had been moved to an expanded couch while she examined him.

"So what's the condition of the resident Death Eater?" Madam Bones asked. Like Judge Cortus she wasn't Happy that Snape had gotten off without a trial all those years ago and she wasn't pleased with how things had progressed that year.

"Mild head trauma. He'll be fine by morning, well as fine as he ever is. My charms showed several impacts that together knocked him out, none were serious and match up with the items found around him when I arrived. Also it appears a cat peed on him." Poppy reported.

"I'm sorry, a cat what?" Madam bones asked while the remaining aurors tried not to laugh.

"Severus's face was soaked in cat urine. Fresh too." Poppy said. She wasn't even going to try and explain that one.

"And Dumbledore?" Madam Bones asked as she resisted the urge to bang her head onto a table.

"He will recover in a day or two, I have him sedated and on a flushing potion to deal with what I believe to be the drought of insanity." Poppy explained.

"We'll need copies of your reports." Madam Bones said, the drought of insanity wasn't on any list of banned or controlled potions. "I'd also like you to examine Mr. Potter for the records."

"Of course. Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, if you would both please release him and step back?" Poppy asked as she prepared to run the charms that would check Harry for any injuries or oddities.

As Madam Pomfrey checked Harry, Madam Bones turned to Hermione and Luna. "That was very impressive, the way you charged in. Not smart but impressive."

"Our Harry was in trouble. Had Snape actually hurt him we would have done the same to him as we did to the door." Luna declared.

Madam Bones had spent a long time learning to read people, she had no doubt the two girls would have indeed reduced Snape to a fine powder, or at least tried their best. She also didn't miss the use of 'our Harry' but didn't feel the need to comment on it at that moment.

A few minutes later Poppy was satisfied and announced. "Well aside from having been tied up and threatened by a professor, Mr. Potter is fine."

"Very well, then for the moment I believe the three of you should return to your common room while we sort the rest of this out." Madam Bones ordered.

Harry, Hermione and Luna nodded their agreement and quickly left McGonagall's office. Harry gestured them into an empty classroom and placed several privacy charms before he filled them in on what Snape had actually said. To say they were enraged would not do the situation justice. "That's it; he's not worth keeping alive anymore."

"I agree but we can't do anything right now. Dumbledore would pin it on us even without proof. I doubt we can kill him until at least this summer." Harry cautioned. That would also give them more time to deal with the potion master.

"With you being out of his class for the time being we'll be the new target." Luna thought out loud. None of them doubted Snape would be even harder on them to punish Harry.

"That's why we need to get your father to also pull both of you. I'm sure we can work out something about self-study." Harry suggested. He thought it sounded reasonable and would pass the scrutiny of their parents.

"_That is good, I don't want any of my minions near that one."_ Crookshanks said from the desk.

Hermione went over and picked him up, she petted and scratched him as he wiggled in her arms. "Such a smart and brave one you are."

"_Yes, yes I am, ohhhh up a little, goood."_ Crookshanks purred.

"Speaking of... Dobby!" Harry called out.

"Great Harry Potter Sir is alright! Dobby is coming to help you as soon as I is delivering the note but Crooky legs is already protecting you." Dobby said in a single short breath.

"Yes, Crookshanks was amazing; could you find him something suitable as a reward?" Harry asked.

"Dobby will be doing!" Dobby said before he popped away.

The trio plus kitten made their way back to the Hufflepuff common room where they were asked the same questions dozens of times before they got any peace. Finally though they were left to themselves and after Harry thanked Susan for calling her aunt they settled onto their couch.

0-O-0

It was well after midnight when a tired and bruised Quirrell crawled out of the chamber of secrets. His Master's fit had exhausted his magical reserves, they both knew if he was to live long he would have to take extreme measures. The next quidditch match would provide the best cover; they should be able to hold out until then.

0-O-0

Nott couldn't believe how well things had worked out. He had planned to humiliate Potter, instead Potter had been arrested! And he was sure Snape would make use of the opportunity which was just fine with him. Yes things were looking up. He couldn't wait to read the headlines in tomorrow's Prophet.

0-O-0

It was a disappointed Nott at breakfast the next morning when he saw Potter and his friends at the Hufflepuff table. In fact three of the four house tables were unsure what to think with Harry being back. Or with the aurors standing by the head table.

Once most of the students were seated Madam Bones stood and called for their attention. "If I may have your attention please. Last night your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was exposed to potion ingredients that reacted negatively with his advanced age. As I am sure you all witnessed last night, in their rush to assist their friend Professors McGonagall and Snape acted in haste and removed Harry Potter from the feast. I would like to state now that while professors can detain students they can not actually arrest a student. Now I believe Professor McGonagall has something to say."

McGonagall reluctantly stood. Madam Bones had ripped into her the night before regarding her actions. While she agreed she had acted rashly and should apologize she wasn't happy about Madam Bones insisting she do it in front of all of the students, she felt it weakened her position of authority over them. Still she had no choice. "Mr. Potter I apologize for my actions and for jumping to conclusions."

As far as apologizes went it did not satisfy anyone involved but after a small nod from Harry, Madam Bones decided not to pursue the matter further.

0-O-0

Snape was also having a bad morning. As soon as he woke up Poppy had informed him what had happened after he was knocked out. Snape wasn't sure what enraged him more, that his revenge had been taking from him or that Potter had lied to protect him. He was sure the brat was plotting something. Well if Potter thought he could get one over a true Slytherin he was mistaken. Let him try. Snape would show him how the game worked.

Poppy frowned at Snape. After what he had done last night she no longer felt bad about this. "The potion to remove your tattoo is also complete. Though I don't think you will like the taste."

"Finally! I don't care about the taste, just bring it here." Snape ordered. He would have brewed it himself but the instructions said it needed to be done by someone other than the person taking it. He had glanced at it though and recognized several of the ingredients.

The goblet with the potion bubbled and steamed. Secretly Poppy suspect the potion was either a very old recipe or some of the instructions had been done just for entertainment. Or perhaps to make sure people truly considered if they wanted a tattoo in the first place. Now that was a practice she could support.

Snape snatched the goblet and downed the noxious concoction before he even stopped to smell it. He had a brief moment before the after taste hit where he thought that the cure hadn't been too horrible. That was the last pleasant moment he would have for the day.

0-O-0

Far away in a small tattoo shop. "So, do you think whoever got the list bothered to try any of our suggestions?"

"Please we just played along, why would they have bothered? Besides, no one in their right mind would try my grans pickled liver recipe after a day, let alone a week. That would probably kill them."

"Shame, it would have been interesting to see, by the way where did the idea for the rancid fat come from?"

"Read about it in a book."

0-O-0

A green Snape lay on the bed sweating. Poppy had been forced to give him a flushing potion and general antidote when his reaction to the potion became violent. As far as she could tell he must have been allergic to one of the ingredients. Thank Merlin the list had included other methods.

0-O-0

Albus felt like his mouth was filled with wool and his body ached. Normally that would have told him he had had a most enjoyable night. However the ache was not the pleasant one he was familiar with. He cracked open an eye and found himself in the hospital wing.

"Poppy?" Dumbledore croaked.

"Good, you're awake. How do you feel?" Poppy asked as she hurried towards him, her wand casting charms as she went.

"I have been better. What happened?" Dumbledore asked. He needed to know what had happened and how long he had been out.

"Someone dosed Harry Potter's trunk with the draught of insanity and you were exposed to it. That was two days ago. Now you appear to have recovered so I need to inform Madam Bones, she is very eager to speak with you as to why you had Mr. Potter's trunk in the first place." Poppy said as she rushed off.

That was most definitely not the way Dumbledore had wanted to wake up. Not only had he lost two days and a chance to gain more information on Harry, but Madam Bones was now involved. The rest of his plans might be salvageable if he could escape from the DMLE.

Much sooner than Dumbledore would have preferred Madam Bones walked into the hospital wing flanked on either side by aurors. "Albus, you had better have one hell of an explanation."

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	26. A Stepping Stone

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Six: A Stepping Stone

0-O-0

The Hogwarts infirmary hadn't changed at all since Madam Bones had been a student. She walked through the large doors, flanked on either side by an auror. They weren't necessary since she doubted they would be able to pin anything on Dumbledore but she wanted a few extra eyes and ears around for their meeting.

The Headmaster was resting on a bed at the far end of the room. "Albus, you had better have one hell of an explanation."

"It might help me, my dear, if you were to tell me what you were referring to." Albus said calmly. His hands rested comfortably on top of the covers in a non-threatening manner, just a small part of his grandfatherly persona.

"Perhaps you could tell us exactly what happened on the night the students returned." Madam Bones said. It would be better to let him tell his story before she asked any questions. It would increase the chances of him slipping up on something.

"Of course. I informed Minerva that I would be delayed for the feast as I wished to finish some work in my office. As I was about to go down the wards detected something they considered dangerous and I had the house elves bring the item to my office for investigation. It was Mr. Potter's trunk. I am afraid that I do not remember anything after I began to examine the trunk in an attempt to find what triggered the wards. I take it from waking here that I fell victim to whatever it was?" Albus was confident that he could talk his way out of the situation; after all he actually was a victim this time.

There was nothing in Albus' story that stuck out to Madam Bones as a red flag. She had already confirmed that Albus had said he would be late to the feast, investigating something that triggered the wards was understandable and a loss of memory was common with a potion such as the draught of insanity. Still she had been hoping for something. "Someone placed a potion on the outside of Mr. Potter's trunk. Our tests show it to be the draught of insanity."

"That is a most unpliant potion." Albus agreed with the look on Madam Bones face. "What did I do while I was under the potions effects? Nothing to disastrous I hope?"

"You? No. Apparently you played dress up and announced you were moving to Canada to hunt moose and beavers. However there was a problem afterwards which you should be made aware of." Madam Bones had no desire to tell Dumbledore what had happened because she was sure he would use his influence to protect his professors.

"Nothing to serious I trust?" Albus asked.

"After they had subdued you, professors McGonagall and Snape went to your office to try and discover what had caused your breakdown. When they found Mr. Potter's trunk, Snape convinced your deputy that it was an attack by Mr. Potter against you."

Dumbledore almost groaned. What had Severus been thinking? If he was honest with himself Dumbledore knew the answer was probably revenge. Really the idea of a student attacking him! The Great Dumbledore falling to a mere child was ludicrous. Now the only question was how much damage had been done? "What happened next?"

"They returned to the feast and announced the Mr. Potter was under arrest for an attack against you. Needless to say I have set them straight and both will have to pay a fine for their actions." Madam Bones said. The fine had been a stroke of genius as far as she was concerned.

"Was that really necessary? I am sure they were just worried about my well-being." Dumbledore said. Severus was going to give him an earful over this.

"Yes it was! They could have caused a great deal of damage to Mr. Potter's reputation. Not to mention they have no right to arrest a person, especially a child under their care. Not only that, but McGonagall left Harry alone with Snape. Who knows what would have happened had something not acted against Snape and rendered him unconscious. The only reason he isn't locked up at this moment is because as a temporary court guardian Judge Cortus can't officially press any charges. Both he and I will be advising Mr. Potter's appointed guardian to do so at their earliest convince." Madam Bones said. She was sure Sirius would be found innocent and win custody of his godson.

Dumbledore nodded his understanding. Should his plans proceed as he hoped, Severus would have no problems with the DMLE over whatever idiotic plan he had concocted.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna had done their best to discover who had doused Harry's trunk with the draught of insanity, but so far they had not had any luck. Most of the student's minds they managed to scan were either happy Harry had been taken away or that Dumbledore had been made a fool of, mostly Slytherins in the latter cases. Or they were concerned for one reason or another, a startling number still believed that Harry must have had something to do with it since he had been arrested, even if Madam Bones had cleared him.

They had however spoken to Luna's father who agreed to let Luna and Hermione, after speaking with her parents, independently study potions. On the condition that they completed all assignments normally assigned in class and were able to complete any potion the class had covered when requested. This meant they would no longer have to see Snape in class, which was good since the three of them were more likely to curse him than do anything else.

Thankfully the unarguable potion master had been missing since the night he threatened Harry. All McGonagall would say was that he was ill due to unrelated circumstances, which resulted in the class being canceled until further notice.

The Slytherins however saw their missing head of house as Harry's fault and vocally demanded to know what he had done with Professor Snape. Nott lead the charge against Harry, even managing to turn a few Ravenclaws to his way of thinking. It came to a boil the second morning after the feast.

They were almost at the great hall when Crabbe and Goyle blocked their way. The time travelers had noticed that this time around they didn't spend as much time with Malfoy. Yes they were still his bookends but they were also seen more and more in the company of Nott. After several moments of staring Crabbe grunted. "What did you do with Snape?"

"We haven't done anything to him." Harry replied.

"Maybe we don't believe you." Crabbe said.

"Maybe we should toss you into dragon dung and let you rot. Bet you'd make some pretty flowers." Goyle added.

For the first time Harry Hermione and Luna appreciated the work Malfoy had obviously put into his own taunts against them the last time around. At least Malfoy had made sure that Snape was around most of the time. Not only had the brainless duo not gotten their head of house to watch their back but they had forgotten to check if others were around. As their bad luck would have it, Professor Sprout had just started down the hall when Crabbe and Goyle had threatened them. Hermione smirked as their head of house stalked towards them. "Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle. Was that a threat against my students?"

"Uh, no… I was, eh. Experiment?" Crabbe shrugged helplessly.

"I see. Well if you had been paying attention you'd know adding random things to dragon dung will almost always dilute it. But because you are so interested why don't you spend tomorrow night shoveling the piles behind greenhouse three? Say right after dinner?" Professor Sprout said.

"But we was gonna…" Crabbe began before an elbow from Goyle stopped him. "Eh, yeah we'll be there."

When Harry Hermione and Luna reached the Hufflepuff table they leaned close together and cast a charm so they wouldn't be overheard. "Were Crabbe and Goyle always that, stupid? I mean they were never prodigies but that was…"

"Painful to watch?" Hermione suggested. "And yes. I think they always were. How did you and Ron get them to eat the desert laced with sleeping potion second year?"

"We hovered them in front of their faces. Right, who would just eat floating food?" Harry said.

"Right."

0-O-0

Dumbledore strolled into Gringotts, a pile of parchment under his arm. There was so much he needed to do but this could not be put off. He needed to take care of it before Sirius was freed. Then he could turn his attention back to Hogwarts. Severus was still in the hospital wing, he refused to leave until that tattoo was removed. Really Albus didn't see the problem. He found it to be a delightful little distraction. In fact every time he spoke with Severus the fairy would move to his face and wave at Albus.

"Next!" A goblin teller called out.

"Good morning. I withdrew these documents when I was the magical guardian of Harry Potter. Since that is no longer the case I need to return them to his vault." Dumbledore sat the pile of parchment onto the counter. The Goblin glared at him but withdrew a clear stone and ran it over the parchment.

Dumbledore knew it was to check for any type of magic. Not that they would find any. It was all just parchment, no charms or magic. But if it worked it would be another step forward in his plans and help set the stage for what needed to happen.

"Very well. We will place these files within the vault." The goblin said.

"Thank you my good man." Dumbledore turned and left. Never realizing how badly he had insulted the teller. He happily returned to his office to continue to try and unravel the mystery of who this 'Ash' person was and where those strange smells were coming from.

0-O-0

"You want to what?" Harry asked in disbelief. They were in the Room of Requirements late at night and had been discussing how to trap Voldemort's spirit once the last part of the medallion was finished.

"I said, I think we should take the Philosopher's Stone before anyone else can. We can keep it safe and I'd love the chance to study it." Hermione said. The spark she always got when she started a new research project was lighting up her eyes.

"I wouldn't mind studying the stone's healing properties." Luna added sweetly.

Harry sighed, he knew he had already lost. "Fine, but only if Dumbledore doesn't have anything too difficult around the stone."

"Alright!" Hermione and Luna agreed. They had the room make a door down to the chamber where Dumbledore had placed the stone, bypassing the traps that Dumbledore and the other professors had set up. The Mirror of Erised sat in the middle of the room just as Harry remembered it.

Before they stepped out of the passage they began checking for charms or other security measures. There were a number of them just inside the door that would alert Dumbledore if someone entered, but the rest of the room came up clean.

Next they checked the mirror itself. Hermione huffed as she walked around it several times before she stood in front and stared at whatever it was showing her. "So that's it."

"What's what?" Luna asked curiously.

"Come stand here and tell me what you see." Hermione instructed. Luna, followed by Harry did as they were told. Harry looked into the mirror expecting to see his parents as he had the first time. Instead he only saw his reflection.

Luna reached out and poked her reflection. "I thought you said this was magic."

"It was!" Harry said, he wouldn't have been surprised if the mirror refused to work just to spite him for some reason. Things like that just seemed to happen.

"It is." Hermione corrected. "Lower your mental shields."

They did and each saw their reflection fade to be replaced by another scene. Harry saw the three of them, older and somewhere that was clearly far away from Britain. His reflection held up a newspaper that proclaimed it was the tenth anniversary since the final defeat of Voldemort. There were more people there, some he recognized, others were faceless shadows. Harry closed his mental shields again. He knew what he wanted; he didn't need the mirror to tell him. Just before he did though his reflection flickered and became younger. It slipped something into its pocket as it faded away. Harry felt the weight of the stone there once more.

"Passive legilimency?" Luna asked as she shook her head to clear it. Harry leaned over and kissed the single tear that had managed to escape from her watery eyes.

"It seems so." Hermione said. She tapped the mirror with her wand. "Now how to get the stone out?"

"Here." Harry pulled the stone from his pocket and explained what had happened.

They returned to the Room of Requirements. Then stepped out and allowed Hermione to ask for the room she would need to begin to untangle the mysteries of the Philosopher's Stone. Thankfully she had also asked for a couch for Harry. He was a bit surprised when Luna joined him and curled up against his side. Whatever she had seen in the mirror had affected her more than he thought. Not that he would ever view it as a hardship to give one of his girls extra attention.

An hour later Hermione flopped onto the couch next to a very content Luna. "That's not the Philosophers Stone."

"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.

At the same moment Luna said. "It's not?"

"No, it's rock candy with a poison suspended in it." Hermione threw up her hands in defeat. "I hardly think sugar and concentrated widow venom is the key to immortality or health."

"So it was what, a trap for Riddle the entire time? We almost died and it wasn't even the real stone?" Harry asked. If the stone was a fake, then it had never been in danger. They could have just sat back and not risked their lives, trying to get past a bunch of asinine challenges.

"It seems so. If Riddle used this to try and brew a potion it would just kill the drinker. Which I guess is what Dumbledore wanted. So much for discovering the great secrets of the Philosopher's Stone." Hermione slumped down even further. She hated when an idea didn't pan out as she expected, when her research hit a wall.

"Well it makes sense, doesn't it?" Luna asked. "Riddle is hardly the first Dark Lord; I imagine others would have wanted the stone as well. Grindelwald and Oxfin and whoever came before them. So why send the stone away now. After all this time Flamel would be an expert on how to hide and protect it."

"I guess so." Hermione admitted.

"Well you can still investigate the mirror can't you?" Harry asked. He knew the best way to keep Hermione out of a funk was to turn her focus towards something else.

"That's right! Now how best to investigate it…" Hermione began mumbling to herself.

"Next time." Harry said. "We need to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow is Sirius's trial."

"Fine. What do you think Dumbledore is going to try?" Hermione asked. They had tried to anticipate any action by their Headmaster and prepare. That had hardly done anything to help Harry's nerves though, a thousand things could go wrong tomorrow and they would only be able to react.

Not to mention it would be the first time Harry would be meeting Sirius this time around. Hermione and Luna remembered how they had felt seeing their parents again. They were just glad they had gotten Xeno to agree that they could go.

0-O-0

Madam Pomfrey frowned. "I do not believe this next method will work either."

"I don't care! Just tell me what to do!" Snape shouted. He had gone through half a dozen of these so called treatments to see the infernal tattoo removed and none had helped.

"Very well. According to this swallowing a table spoon of cinnamon will halt the tattoo. But the cinnamon must be dry." Poppy said.

"Just give it to me!" Snape snatched the spoon from her and jammed it into his mouth.

Poppy watched as Snape doubled over coughing, expelling most of the cinnamon from his mouth. The fairy floated along his face laughing silently. "Told you."

0-O-0

The next morning they were informed that they were to meet at Dumbledore's office at ten to floo to the ministry. Somehow the news about Sirius's trial had been leaked and the Daily Prophet had spent the last few days running story after story. Most painted Sirius in a bad light no matter what angle they used. Either he was a mass murderer or a bad person who abandoned a baby -crazy or immature.

They could all see Fudge's hand in the reports, clearly he had decided if he couldn't keep Sirius in prison than he would try and limit Sirius's influence once he was released. It was just one more reason they were all looking forward to leaving Britain that summer.

To hopefully deal with any issues Dumbledore might raise about them leaving the school, even though they all had permission, they arrived at his office at nine. Despite their efforts when they stepped into Dumbledore's office they found it empty except for McGonagall. She gave them a disapproving look. "You are an hour late. The Headmaster was forced to leave without you."

"But the note you gave us this morning said ten." Harry said reaching into his robes for the note. Only to find it gone.

"I am sure it did not. However once the Headmaster has left no student is allowed off school grounds without their parent or guardian coming to collect them personally." McGonagall said firmly. She was not at all upset with having to tell them they could not go. Not after having to humiliate herself in front of the entire school by apologizing in the great hall.

"I don't remember reading that anywhere in the official Hogwarts rules and regulations." Hermione said.

"That is not my concern. I am afraid you will all be remaining here." McGonagall informed them.

"But…" Harry started before he was cut off.

"If this trial was so important to you than you should have made an attempt to be on time. Now I have work to do for the Headmaster so kindly see yourselves out." McGonagall said firmly.

Luna and Hermione grabbed Harry and dragged him from the office before he was able to do anything he might regret. They didn't release him until they were in an unused classroom. Harry stumbled a bit when they let go. "I wasn't going to kill her honest."

"Of course not, just duel her." Luna said.

"Maybe…"Harry said slowly.

"Right now our concern is getting to the ministry. Hedwig?" Hermione asked.

"Well we might as well make it flashy just to annoy Dumbledore. I say we have her drop us right in the middle of the atrium." Harry suggested.

"I agree with the flashy but let's have her take us straight into the courtroom. That way they can't stop us before we get there. Besides Mr. Lovegood and Judge Cortus were planning to get there early anyways." Hermione said. It would annoy Dumbledore to no end for them to appear in the court room with a phoenix, with a little luck he would be there already.

"The wards won't stop us?"

"They shouldn't, the ministry can get mail so there should be an owl hole in the wards somewhere, and while I can see them warding their offices the courtrooms are so far down with no ready access for owls that they probably haven't thought of it." Hermione answered. She also suspected that the ministry wards had decayed over the years and not been properly maintained. After all they didn't seem to keep up anything else so why the wards.

"Works for me, Dobby." Harry called.

"Yes sir?" Dobby said from the side of the classroom. None of them had heard his appearance and they wondered if he had simply been invisible and waiting.

"Would you ask Hedwig to come meet us?" Harry asked.

"Of course sir." Dobby vanished.

A minute later Hedwig flew to the window and Luna let her in. _"Dobby said you wanted to speak with me."_

"Yes, we need a lift to the ministry. Think you could take us there?" Harry asked.

"_Will it annoy Dumbledore?"_ Hedwig asked, she wasn't a fan of the Headmaster's attempts to influence her humans.

"We hope so." Luna said.

"_In that case I would be happy to."_ Hedwig replied as she activated the glamor on her.

0-O-0

The courtroom was packed and had been for over an hour. After reading the Daily Prophet over the last week most people there believed that they would see Sirius confirmed guilty. Only a few knew that Peter Pettigrew was in custody and would also be tried directly after Sirius, or at the same time if necessary.

Xeno and Judge Cortus had indeed arrived early and been escorted to the section reserved for the media, Madam Bones had made a few alterations to allow the children to sit with them instead of in the visitors' gallery. Neither was pleased when they saw Dumbledore walk in alone. They stood and made their way towards him.

"Albus, where are the children?" Xeno asked in as level of a voice as he could manage.

"Ah Xenophilius, I am sorry. I waited as long as I could for them but they never arrived at my office and I was finally forced to leave without them." Dumbledore said.

"Somehow I don't believe you." Judge Cortus said.

"Neither do I." Xeno was itching to draw his wand and show Dumbledore what he had done back in 78' to a particularly nosey kangaroo. But doing so in the middle of a court room wasn't going to help anything.

"I assure you that…"

A bright flash cut off what Dumbledore was about to say. Several people yelled and aurors drew their wands, trying to locate the threat. Instead they found three children in the center of the courtroom with a purple phoenix on the middle child's shoulder. Dumbledore watched in shock and barely had time to register what he was seeing before the phoenix took to the air and disappeared in another flash of fire.

Xeno, being used to things others thought strange was the first to recover. "Luna dear, what was that?"

"That was Ember Daddy." Luna said cheerfully as she rushed over to hug him. Harry and Hermione gave her a questioning look as they followed a moment later. When Luna pulled out of the hug she just smiled. "Well it seemed rude to call the phoenix an 'it'."

"Works for me." Harry said. He thought Hedwig would like it to. Then again she did seem to have a soft spot for Luna.

"Mr. Potter what are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked, as he finally came back to himself, something that seemed to take longer and longer these days.

"Well my godfather is on trial soon, and I know you received the permission for us to be here, so here we are." Harry said pleasantly. He so enjoyed making the headmaster look confused and angry.

"That is not what I meant. How did you arrive here?" Dumbledore tired again.

Hermione smiled. "Sir, that was a phoenix. I thought you of all people would know that. You have one as a friend don't you?"

"That was no phoenix Miss Granger. The colors were not correct." Dumbledore said. He needed to know how they had come to find the odd creature. "Now where did you find it?"

"Well we arrived at your office early, your note said ten, only for McGonagall to tell us that you had left and no students were to be allowed to leave until you returned." Harry started.

"We weren't sure how we were going to get here but then Ember appeared and gave us a note." Luna said.

Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Dumbledore. In simple writing it said, _Need a lift to the Ministry? –Ash_.

Hermione had charmed a quill to write it before she destroyed the quill. Hathfojd had been keeping them apprised of how Dumbledore was reacting to the supposed attacks against him by Ash and they had decided to tweak the Headmasters crooked nose a bit more. "Since it was obviously a phoenix that delivered the note we accepted and arrived here."

Dumbledore had paled when he read the note. Ash. Who was he and why did he insist on interfering. And where had he gotten a bloody phoenix?! He only had one because he inherited it as Headmaster. "I see, I am afraid that you will face punishment for leaving the school without permission."

It was a moment Dumbledore said absently as his mind worked furiously on the mystery that was ash. It was also one that didn't sit well with the other. "They had permission Albus and you tried to keep them at Hogwarts. We will speak about this after the trial, am I clear?" Judge Cortus asked.

"Yes, yes." Dumbledore mumbled as he moved to take his seat. He needed time to think, to work out what position to take. He needed time to review how this would change any goals he had or affect his plans. He could deal with the others later. Actually if he could put it off until the matter of guardianship had been settled he wouldn't have to deal with Judge Cortus at all.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna took their seats with the judge and Xeno. Luna took that time to catch up with her father, not that there was much to catch up on. Though Xeno did mention to her that for their summer expedition he was thinking about the Black Forest. Which surprised Luna since the last time around they had never searched there.

When the trial was finally ready to begin Sirius was lead into the courtroom and took his seat. The entire Wizengamot was present and sat to hear the case. Harry had learned after his own trial in fifth year that this was exceptional rare.

Harry was glad to see that Sirius looked well. His hair was neat and trimmed; he no longer looked like a depressed skeleton either. All in all he portrayed himself as a proud and innocent wizard. Much to the shock of those in attendance who were expecting the worst of the worst who had rotted in Azkaban for a decade.

The trial was quick. Madam Bones presented her evidence; Sirius was given the truth potion, after that no one could speak against him without looking like they were trying to manipulate events for a reason besides the law. Even Malfoy was forced to hold his tongue.

It was a forgone conclusion that Sirius would be found innocent. Still when it was announced Harry couldn't help but jump up and woop with joy. Then, it what would become one of the most iconic wizarding photos of the decade, he ran to Sirius and tackled him in a hug, Hermione and Luna a moment behind.

The next morning's Daily Prophet would show the picture of three laughing first years hugging the so called 'right hand of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' on the courtroom floor. That one of them was clearly Harry Potter would do more to help people believe Sirius was truly innocent than anything the Wizengamot could have said.

Harry, Hermione and Luna lead a stunned Sirius back to their seats as Madam Bones stood and drew everyone's attention. "There is a second trial we will now hold. That of Peter Pettigrew."

0-O-0

(A/N: I've had no end to problems with the formatting of this chapter. Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)

(A/N2: I can't believe this story has passed 1000 reviews! My readers are amazing, thank you. We are quickly approaching the end of first year, and while the others probably won't be as long my current outline takes us to year five. Again thank you all and I look forward to continuing this story.)


	27. Cooking Club

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Seven: Cooking Club

0-O-0

The trial of Peter, as far as Harry was concerned, was a disappointment. Fudge had apparently decided if he could not somehow stop the trial then it would be best to rush it and prevent too much information from getting out. Madam Bones had barely begun her case when the minister called for a vote of life in Azkaban. It was approved and when he saw the chance to steal a bit of the lime light fudge made the request that Peter be held in Sirius's old cell, after it had the needed wards added.

When the trial concluded they were offered a small room off to the side to use so Harry and Sirius could catch up. As they stepped into the room they saw Dumbledore rushing through the crowd towards them. Xeno and Judge Cortus moved to stall him.

"Sorry we don't have a lot of time Sirius." Harry began. "But there are a few important things you need to do. First, go to France or some other country and get a full mind evaluation. That way Dumbledore can't claim you aren't fit to be my guardian."

"Wait, why? The DMLE healers already cleared me. And why would Dumbledore fight my custody of you?" Sirius asked. He had been shocked when Harry, who looked so much like a miniature James, had rushed to hug him after he was cleared. He'd been expecting it to take some time for things to warm up between them.

This was even more difficult for him to comprehend. His godson looked so serious. Most people thought James didn't have a serious bone in his body, and there had been any number of jokes about the two of them along those lines. But when it came to Lily or later Harry himself, James was a force of nature. Now he saw that same seriousness in Harry, and to be honest it frightened him a little.

"Dumbledore has been trying to butt into my life and control me. He was the one behind me being sent to live with the Dursleys." Harry said.

"But you were never supposed to go…"

"I know. If it wasn't for Luna and her dad taking me in I don't know what I would have done. We can't explain everything now. But this summer I promise. You need to be my guardian by then. Go get checked out so the case is airtight and no one can try anything. Also, I know you hate it, but don't get rid of your families London home." Harry kept an eye on the door, sure Dumbledore was about to burst in.

"How do you know about that place?" Sirius asked. Maybe he should go see a mind healer.

"Trust me; we're setting up the greatest prank you've ever seen." Harry said with a smile. He hoped that believing this was all part of a prank would set Sirius at ease until they could explain everything. He had tried to plan out what he was going to say but now that he could talk to Sirius he was too nervous to get everything out.

"Ok pup. This had better be one hell of a prank though." Sirius said after a drawn out pause.

The door suddenly swung open with enough force to bounce against the wall. Dumbledore strolled in followed by a displeased Xeno and Corus. "Sirius, it is good to see you free again. I am afraid that I must return Mr. Potter to school now that the trials are over."

Sirius glanced at Harry and caught a slight nod of his head. "Alright. I'll see you soon Harry."

Harry took the opportunity to hug Sirius again. "See you soon, Padfoot."

He stiffened at the name but before he could ask how Harry knew it Dumbledore had escorted the children away. Xeno and Cortus then took the opportunity to begin to fill him in on what they knew of Harry.

0-O-0

Peter was terrified; things had taken a downturn when his master was defeated by Harry. After that night he had run, only to be found by Sirius. Thankfully he'd made his escape and gotten his former friend tossed in Azkaban. When Peter had learned he was declared dead, well he was a bit upset. Then he thought about it.

James was dead, so was Lily but she'd made her choice. James had known he liked Lily Evans for some time, but no, little Peter couldn't compete with big ol' Potter. His greatest regret was that his reward for helping his master had been killed with James.

Sirius was in Azkaban. Served him right for always picking on Peter.

Remus, well Peter still considered the werewolf a friend even if he had joined James and Sirius in picking on him, though with his friends gone Remus would suffer and Peter felt that was enough.

In the start his plan had been to make up some story and return to the wizarding world once things had calmed down. He would be a hero who had helped defeat Black. Until then he decided to bide his time, and that was how he came to be in the care of the Weasleys.

The plan hit a snag when he discovered he liked being a pet. Plenty of food, he could sleep whenever he wanted. And if he got lonely for a bit of human interaction he could slip away for a few hours. Before his fall the Dark Lord had arranged for a special account at Gringotts. Instead of a key a person just needed to ask for the account and provide a password. Everyone who was told about it had been sworn to secrecy under several oaths, but they all had free reign to remove funds as needed. They knew their fate if they misused the money.

A quick withdrawal and a visit to one of several little holes Peter knew of saw him with no lack of companionship. Yes, he was almost happy with things.

The family he managed to join, the Weasleys, were perfect. Their father worked at the ministry so Peter could keep his ears open for useful information. Anything to help him should another Death Eater ever tracked him down.

They were also connected to Dumbledore which allowed him to pick up other information from time to time. Not that he had ever needed to act on anything he heard. Two of the sons, the twins, were budding pranksters and Peter made sure they learned of the Marauders, he even left them a few gifts from time to time.

But most of all it was the feeling of being superior; he had out smarted everyone! It was wonderful.

Then he had somehow gotten caught and shoved into a cell. The last few months had been bad, the rest of his life was looking worse. He was bound in ropes, if he transformed they'd snap together faster than he could change and cut him to pieces. It was their solution to having no portable anti animus ward. The only working design they had only prevented the change, locking an animagus into whatever form they entered the ward under.

Peter could already feel the chill as the boat approached the small island. He was lifted from the boat and carried into the black building. They carried him to the cell Sirius had formerly been imprisoned in, something that Peter felt was done just as an insult, and dumped him on the stone floor. They summoned the ropes back and closed the door.

After several moments the deep chill and despair that accompanied the dementors settled over the high security wing. Peter shoved the more animalist part of his mind forward to protect himself. It worked well enough to keep him from succumbing to their effects.

"Little Rat, Little Rat, hiding in a hoooole. Little Rat, Little Rat, roasting on a poooole." The child like voice sent shivers down Peter's spine. He supposed it was too much to hope that that crazy bitch would have succumb to death.

Moving to his door he peeked out and saw the twisted face of Bellatrix Lestrange watching from her own cell. Oh how he hated her. Rich, from a great family and always a favorite of the Dark Lord. The one time he had tried to get with her she'd flayed the skin from his hand. Weakly he said. "Bellatrix, how lovely to see you here."

"So the Little Rat isn't dead after all. Well you will be when I get my hands on you. Your information killed our master!" Bellatrix lunged, arms outstretched through the bars. However the wide hallway between their cells kept her from coming close to him.

Peter had no doubt she'd still find a way to kill him though, unless he was useful. "Wait! I can help you escape, find the master."

"Lies!" Beatrix hissed. "You are a coward!"

"Of course I am." Peter freely admitted it. "But I'm also useful, that's how I stay alive. And I can help. I know things. I lived with a ministry family, some of Dumbledore's people. I heard things." Peter offered.

"Useless to us in here." Rookwood said, stirred from his solitude by their shouting.

"I can teach you to be an animagus, you can use it to escape!" Peter said desperate to turn that fearsome look of hers away from himself.

"Do you take me for a fool Little Rat? How are we to get the potions needed?" Beatrix asked, to her eternal regret she hadn't killed him when she had the chance.

"The potions aren't always needed." Peter said.

"Lies!" Beatrix made another useless lunge towards him.

"Actually, he is correct." Rookwood supplied. Beatrix stopped; he was one of the few aside from their master she would listen to. "The original process did not use potions. Those were introduced later to allow more to achieve the transformation." He paused to study Bellatrix, Azkaban had withered her looks and she had chosen to hide her mind behind insanity. But he could still see the spark of the woman who had captivated him. "It requires an incredible amount of will and magic to achieve the transformation without the potions. But I believe you among us may be able to do it my dear."

He had never looked into the transformation beyond the basics; it had just never interested him. Nor did he believe he had the power needed to pull it off without the potions. But if Peter knew the full process… "You know the full process? Without the potions?"

"Yes! I remember all of it!" Peter assured them.

"Then you may be useful enough to keep alive." Bellatrix said, as though the decision rested with her. "How do we start?"

"Well, first you must find your primal mind. Everyone has two minds, the higher one which handles thoughts and the primal or basic mind that handles instincts. The primal mind is where the knowledge of the transformation will come from." Peter began to explain.

0-O-0

"Harry." Luna said sweetly, the first sign that she was up to something. "How would you like to annoy Snape and help our fellow students?"

"We've talked about this, we can't actually kill or maim him at Hogwarts, the risk is just too high." Harry said. They were sitting in the Room of Requirements. Hermione had asked for a replica of the mirror so she could try and unravel the secret of how it showed a person their hearts desire. So far she hadn't been able to get the glass of to properly study it.

"I know." Luna said disappointed. "But I was thinking we could start a potions club. We could help teach the students what Snape doesn't. We're all at least N.E.W.T. level."

"Well it would annoy him, it's not against the rules, and would help our fellow students. What do you think Hermione?" Harry asked.

"That an arc welder would be useful right now." Hermione replied from behind the mirror.

"I meant about a potions club." Harry said.

"Oh, yes that. Sounds wonderful." Hermione said absently.

0-O-0

"You wish to what?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Start a potions club, and since we need a staff member to sponsor it we thought of you." Harry said.

"I understand that but why not…" She paused as she realized there was no way they'd be able to ask Severus. "I suppose I wouldn't mind. How exactly would you have the club set up?"

"Well we were thinking we'd start by going over what Snape should have been teaching." Harry said.

"What he should have been teaching?" Professor Sprout asked curious to what they could be referring too.

"Things like reaction tables, proper methods of preparing ingredients, safety." Luna explained. "The ministry doesn't like giving out educational information for some reason but other countries didn't seem to mind when I requested it. Most of them devote several weeks to those topics before they start brewing anything."

Harry wondered just how long Luna had been planning this or if she was just making it up as she went. "No one can doubt Snape's brewing is at a mastery level but he is either incapable, or in my opinion just doesn't want to, pass those skills on."

Hermione then laid out several pieces of parchment Harry hadn't seen before. "As you can see the British O.W.L. in potion would actually be considered early to mid-fourth year in other countries."

Professor Sprout was overwhelmed. "So you would be teaching them as an actual potion class?"

"No." Hermione looked a little embarrassed. "We aren't nearly that good. We'd be covering the things that should have been covered before any of us were allowed to brew, basic safety, preparation, reactions. Maybe a few simple potions towards the end of the year."

"Well I suppose I can support that." Professor Sprout picked up the parchments and looked through them. It made sense to her to cover basic safety and reactions before the children started brewing. Merlin knew there had been an increase in accidents in that class since Severus took over. "When were you thinking of having the club meet?"

0-O-0

The following day Luna showed them the poster she had made for the club which had been named, against Harry's wishes, 'Potter's Potion Club'. The poster showed a drawing of him, standing over a bubbling cauldron, with a muggle chemistry breaker held up ready to pour the contents into the potion. Scattered around the drawing were table littered with potion equipment. In the background sat the vulture they had pranked Snape with, long hair included.

"Luna, you're trying to get Snape to kill me aren't you?" Harry asked when he saw the poster.

"Don't be silly Harry; you haven't made out a will leaving everything to your two amazing girlfriends yet." Luna replied. She didn't know that he actually had and was only waiting for Sirius to gain guardianship of him to make it legal.

Hermione looked at the detail on the poster skeptically. "You only told me about this idea last week, but even with your artistic skill it would have taken you longer than that to make this. How long have you been working on the idea?"

"Since just before Christmas when we were helping Neville with his potion work. I realized part of his problem was a lack of skills needed to prepare the ingredients." Luna explained. The others nodded, they'd all made it a point to help their housemates when they could, Potions seemed to be the subject most struggled with.

"Should we put one up in the Slytherin common room too?" Harry asked.

"If we don't they can claim we were trying to exclude them and have the club shut down. Besides it'll annoy them that we got it up in their common room." Hermione said.

Late that night they used the Room of Requirements to sneak into the three other houses common rooms and place their posters. In the Slytherin common room they made sure to use several runes that would make it difficult to remove or destroy the poster. Most of which they learned from the portrait of Sirius's mother. The clubs first meeting would be the following day after dinner,

0-O-0

Snape was, if you believe he could experience such an emotion, happy. He had finally contacted a magical tattoo shop himself and they had been able to remove that blasted fairy within an hour. Yes it had cost a good deal but he was free of it at last. The only blemish on his mood was that when he had mentioned the other so called solutions that he had been provided he was informed that they were all fakes. Someone had pranked him.

Of course he had sworn his everlasting vengeance upon them. And Potter again, just in case he was involved. His good mood completely ended when one of the prefects knocked urgently on his door. "Sir, you need to come to the common room and see this."

Snape moved at a quick pace. "What has happened?"

"I'm not sure what you would call it sir." The prefect admitted.

When Snape arrived he found most of his house clustered around the bulletin board. There, in the center and taking up a large section of the space was a poster for a new potions club, run by Harry Potter. Snape snapped, he clawed at the poster trying to pull it down. But the edges remained firm. "We've tried that sir."

A small portion of control returned to Snape. "What else have you tried?"

"We can't remove the poster, damage it, none of the charms we try work, we can't seem to cancel any magic on it either." One of them informed him.

"Stand back." Snape began with simpler charms and worked his way towards the more dangerous ones. The students stepped back further, they could see the frustration mounting on Snape's face. He managed to keep from casting anything truly dark but just barely. Certainly the students wouldn't have minded but the smarter ones might have tried to use it against him at a later date.

Frustrated and out of ideas Snape canceled the charms holding the bulletin board to the wall. Surprisingly that worked and the entire structure fell over. "I will have this replaced. Go to breakfast. And none of you had better try to attend this so called club. Should I find out you did you will face detention for the rest of the year, understood?"

"Yes sir!" they called out before they hurried from the common room.

0-O-0

"How did you do it Potter?" Draco asked as everyone waited to enter the charms classroom. The other Slytherin students listened intently. Curious themselves as to how such a feat was achieved. It would also settle several bets among them.

"Good looks and charm?" Harry asked. When none of them laughed he sighed and mumbled something about humorless snakes. "You'll have to tell me what you're actually referring to before I decide if I want to answer you."

"The poster for your club in the Slytherin common room. Professor Snape was not happy that he had to personally come and remove it." Draco said. There was no way he was going to mention the difficulty their head of house had with it.

Harry though could read between the lines. "Seriously? Well now I don't feel so overcharged for buying protection. It's simple really; I paid an older Slytherin to put it up. I honestly figured suggesting protection was just their way of saying if I didn't pay them more they would destroy the poster themselves."

Several coins exchanged hands as bets were settled between the students present. Before Draco could try and get more information they were allowed into the room.

0-O-0

The first meeting of the potions club was attended predominantly by Hufflepuffs, though there were also a number of Ravenclaws and several Gryffindors, among them Fred and George. When it was time for the start of the club Harry walked to the desk. Professor Sprout was sitting off to one side observing. "Welcome everyone to the first meeting of Potter's Potion club. I would like it noted now that I was against that name but I was out voted by the cofounders."

Tonks pretended to cough while loudly whispering "whipped."

Harry just smiled. "Not really my thing Tonks, but to each their own I suppose. Just please not during a club meeting. That could prove distracting."

Several students looked confused but more were blushing as they worked out what Harry meant, among them Tonks herself. Making her blush was no small achievement.

"What qualifies you to run this club?" A third year Ravenclaw asked.

Harry had been expecting something like that question. "Well contrary to what some may have told you, up until O.W.L.'s cooking and potion brewing are very similar. Most of the same rules apply. Preparation, safety, just basic things like that. Things that most schools teach before they allow anyone to start making potions. And things I know very well since I was forced to cook for several years."

The classroom door slammed open and a smirking Snape entered followed by Dumbledore. The Headmaster looked them over. "I am sorry to inform all of you that this club has been canceled."

There was a general outcry among the students.

"Quiet!" Snape shouted. "Potter how dare you try and usurp my place as Potions Professor. Your arrogance is even great than your fathers! What makes you think you are qualified to teach anyone potions?"

"I'm not, but I'm not teaching potions." Harry answered.

This brought everyone up short. Snape felt that it was a trick. "A potions club without potions? Do you expect me to believe that?"

"I never said we wouldn't brew, just that I never planned to teach any potions. I am going to cover things that you should have. Safety, how to prepare ingredients, clean up. Basic stuff like that. Things every other school teaches before students start to brew potentially dangerous potions. If people want to brew simple potions in the club, then under the school rules they are allowed to as long as a professor is here." Harry said.

"You are not even qualified to do that!" Snape shouted. "All of you leave! I am canceling this club!"

"How dare you!" Sprout had kept her mouth shut but this was going too far. "I am sponsoring this club and as such you have no right to cancel it."

Dumbledore interjected before wands were drawn. "Actually as the Potions Professor Severus does have the right to halt any potion based club or group of the school."

"I don't see why you are so upset sir." Harry said politely. "After all until after the O.W.L.'s brewing and cooking are basically the same thing and I am sure most people here can cook."

"They are nothing alike!" Snape shouted. He knew they were but was disagreeing on principal. "Brewing is the highest magical art, cooking is a lowly muggle skill, something I would not sully my hands with."

"I am afraid the matter is closed. If everyone would please return to their common rooms." Dumbledore said as the room began to empty. Professor Sprout apologized, she appeared so down trodden that Harry Hermione and Luna filled her in on their back up plan. When they finished her smile was almost frightening.

0-O-0

Later that night the trio sat around a table in the Hufflepuff common room. Tonks walked over and took a seat next to Luna. The two of them had begun to get along wonderfully, though no one, not even Harry or Hermione could quite figure out why.

"That's rotten, what happened tonight. I was looking forward to it as well." Tonks said.

"Oh don't worry, we're moving onto plan C." Luna said happily.

"You mean plan B?" Tonks asked.

"No, that would be silly. C is much better, see?" Luna held up the altered poster for the potions club. Which now read 'Potter's Cooking Club'. The cauldron had been replaced by a large soup pot, the beaker by a carrot and both Harry and the Vulture were now wearing chef hats.

"Wicked." Tonks said.

0-O-0

A knock woke Snape the next morning. "Sir, it's happened again!"

Snape stormed into the Slytherin common room and found another poster on the bulletin board. This one for Potter's Cooking Club. Unable to hold back his rage he unleashed a dark rotting curse upon the poster. The wood of the bulletin board was the first to go, crumbling away until Snape finally over powered whatever protections were on the poster and it crumbled away. He tried to hide how much magic it had taken, when he found out which of his snakes was doing this he would make them wish they had been expelled. Perhaps a test run on the Potions Pit before Potter took a dip.

0-O-0

Harry strolled towards Dumbledore's office. He wasn't overly surprised when he had received a summons by the Headmaster. He'd sent a quick note to Professor Sprout and found her waiting for him at the gargoyle statue. Together they headed up to the office; neither was surprised to see a fuming Snape in the corner. Dumbledore didn't comment on Professor Sprout's presence. Truthfully he realized there was little he could do in this situation. But if he didn't at least try, then Severus would not leave him in peace. "Hello Harry, I believe we discussed this last night. You are not allowed to have a potions club."

"I know sir, and I don't. This is cooking. See the little chief's hat?" Harry pointed it out on the poster Dumbledore had gotten from somewhere. Considering they only made four and placed one in each common room, and Harry was willing to bet Snape destroyed the Slytherin's, he would guess it came from Gryffindor.

"Yes I do, but we both know you intend to teach potions in this club." Dumbledore said.

"I will do no such thing!" Harry did his best to act as if he had never been so offended before. "I will be teaching how to care for your cooking equipment, prepare ingredients, safety and why certain dishes have to be made in certain ways."

Snape stepped forward and all but roared at them. "That is exactly what you said you'd teach in your potions club!"

"That can't be, after all you said yourself potions and cooking are nothing alike." Harry replied.

Dumbledore was forced to cast a small charm on Severus to keep him from drawing his wand. This was going worse than he expected, he needed to end it quickly. "I do seem to recall you saying that Severus. And while I happen to agree with what Harry said about cooking and brewing being very similar I am afraid that you do not have the authority to stop all clubs remotely connected to potions."

Severus looked ready to strangle someone; bets were even between Harry and Dumbledore but the Headmasters charm held him in place. "Sir."

"I am sorry to have wasted your time Harry. You may leave." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you sir, oh and I will be informing Judge Cortus that twice now you have introduced both myself and Professor Snape into the same situation despite his orders not to." Harry said before he left.

Dumbledore waited until the door closed before he secured it and turned to the still immobilized Severus. "Will you be calm? Oh of course you won't let's get this over with." As soon as he was released Snape began to rant, he ranted at Dumbledore about his actions and about Potter. Dumbledore used his mental shields to tune out the angry man until he began to run down.

"…And do you just expect me to sit back as he does whatever he pleases?" Snape finished.

"Of course not. it may not be the revenge you wanted but I do have an idea of a way to harm Harry's standing within his house. There is a quidditch game soon…" Dumbledore began.

"Which Hufflepuff isn't playing in." Snape snapped back.

Dumbledore continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "And I think you should volunteer to referee it. Then should something happen where the other teams are unable to play we would be forced to move up Hufflepuffs next match. As Harry pointed out the two of you are not supposed to be involved in the same activities so…"

"So Potter won't be able to play in the game and his house will blame him." Snape finished. True it wasn't nearly painful enough but it was something.

"I know you want more, and we shall have it soon enough. We only need to wait until Black gains custody of Harry." Dumbledore said.

"Wait, you _want_ that mongrel to gain custody?" Snape asked in disbelief.

"There is no way to stop him; my sources have informed me that he has the proper papers from mind healers that he is sane." Snape snorted but Dumbledore continued. "And I have also learned he has traveled to France to have this verified. Any actions I could take against him would either fail or point unwanted attention towards us. So instead I worked with what I knew would happen. As soon as Black gains custody we regain control."

"I believe you have gone insane." Snape said. He could see no reason in Dumbledore's plan. Nor understand it.

"Perhaps, but when it works I will be brilliant again." Dumbledore said. He had been dancing the line between brilliance and insanity for decades.

"True enough. Then if that is all." Snape left the office after being dismissed and returned to his quarters. There had to be something else he could do to punish Potter.

0-O-0

Dumbledore smiled. He had managed to stall Severus for the moment. Once his plans came about he could finally start to move forward again. And his supplier had even managed to track down the ingredients he needed for his potion. A few missed doses shouldn't hurt him.

He began to double check the paper work he would file to keep Sirius from gaining custody of Harry. He knew it would fail of course but people would expect him to do so and he would. Just to keep them from looking to closely at what he was really doing.

0-O-0

Ron was walking down the corridor heading towards the Great Hall. Why was nothing going his way? Potter! That was why, it had to be. Suddenly his head snapped back as if he had been punched before he fell to the ground twitching. Sadly he had decided to take a route few others used to be alone with his thoughts so no one found him.

He had no idea how long he was on the floor before the pain finally stopped. Or how long after that he remained unmoving, afraid to move in case it returned. When he finally did get shakily to his feet he felt a moment of joy. It had worked. Memories rushed through his mind. He had done it. He had come back in time to… to… "What the bloody hell was I supposed to do?"

Ron moved to an empty classroom and began to pace. He knew he came back for a reason, something important. Memories, he remembered being friend with Potter and the know-it-all. He was supposed to be the third member of their group instead of loony and they were all in Gryffindor. So what had happened? The answer came a moment later. Of course, Potter had already come back in time.

So why had he come back separately, his mission, he was supposed to do something. Then it hit him. There was something about a Dark Lord. Of course! Potter became a Dark Lord and traveled back in time to take over. And who better than his former best mate to stop him. "I have to kill Harry Potter."

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	28. Guardianship

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Eight: Guardianship

0-O-0

"Hello everyone and welcome to the first meeting of the Cooking Club." Harry spoke from the front of the room. He looked out at the gathered students. They had needed to switch rooms at the last moment because the number of people who had shown up had greatly increased from those who turned up for the potions club. While there were still no Slytherins the other three houses all had a strong presence.

It was probably the worst kept secret in Hogwarts at the moment that Harry, Hermione and Luna were going to use the Cooking Club to teach everyone basic potion skills. This had seen even a few of the older years arrive.

"I'm glad to see so many people have taken an interest in cooking. But before we can get to cooking we should go over proper preparation of ingredients and safety. Since Hogwarts really isn't set up for cooking we'll have to make do with similar items used in potion brewing. I would like to remind everyone that according to the Hogwarts Potion Professor brewing potions and cooking are nothing alike, any similarities between the two are a complete coincidence." Harry said. Several of the students laughed, word had quickly spread the week before about Snape's comments. A few students had taken to leaving lists around about the similarities. Snape had taken to burning said lists when he found them.

"First off we'll talk about properly cleaning your utensils. Since I don't have a bowl I'll use this cauldron to demonstrate. Say I have just cooked some chili but now want to make a cake. If I don't clean things properly the cake will come out tasting like chili, not something I'd prefer to eat." Harry showed them how to check under the rim of the cauldron for any residue from their last recipe. Then it was onto making sure all knifes, or anything else used, were also free of contamination. Many of the older years were embarrassed to realize their own potion mistakes seemed to come from something as simple as not wiping the cutting surface between ingredients.

Afterwards Harry went onto safety. Roll up your shelves, tie back loose clothing and hair, he suggested they use the bubble head charm when cooking something with strong scents such as onions or peppers. Or anything else that caused fumes.

"Ingredients, here is where things can get tricky. Always check your recipe. Normally fresher is better but there are certain recipes that call for an ingredient that has been aged or prepared in a certain way. I've heard about a shark whose meat is toxic unless it is allowed to ferment. Personally that doesn't sound appetizing but I hear Vikings love it." Harry continued by showing them how to check if an ingredient was fresh, dried, old, stale, rotten or had other common problems. Again those in the upper years discovered some of their own potion problems came from something such as a stale ingredients, more realized that they really should check their potion kits.

It was an informative meeting and would soon see a rise in the quality of brewing in potions, much to Snape's annoyance.

"Well that's about as much time as we had for today. Before any of you leave though Hermione and Luna have some parchment you might want. Some chefs like to make themselves feel important by using archaic or unnecessarily complicated terms like widdershins. There's no reason to not say counter clock wise unless you're trying to make yourself feel more important by making others feel dumb." Harry explained as the students took their copy of the parchment. Several asked for extras for their friends and housemates.

After the last student had left Harry turned and looked sheepishly at Hermione and Luna. "Sorry, guess I kind of ran away with the club."

"Don't worry about it." Hermione waved off his apology. "You are the best cook between us."

"Except with deserts." Luna added.

"Except with deserts." Hermione corrected.

"So what do you think Snape is going to do if people actually start preforming better in his class?" Harry asked as they packed up the demonstration items.

"Probably throw a fit then try to take credit for it somehow." Hermione answered.

0-O-0

The next day Snape watched the fifth year Slytherin/Gryffindor class and felt his blood rising. He'd put the instruction on the board as always and told them to get to work. Instead of brewing though most of the Gryffindors had begun cleaning their workspace. "What is the meaning of this? I said to brew. If you wish to clean go speak with the House Elves."

"Sorry sir, but there are bits of someone else's ingredients here." One of the Gryffindors said and pointed to the gunk that was around the cauldron and cutting board.

"Since you want to clean so much you can help Filch for the rest of the week, and ten points from Gryffindor. Now brew, all of you!" Snape shouted.

"But that's not safe! Who knows what this stuff will do to our potions." Another student said.

This was Potters fault. Snape made sure only to clean the side where his Slytherins worked. The other classes had never complained before. Well not much at any rate. It was one of his favorite methods; those idiots never understood why their potions came out inferior to his Slytherins. But thanks to Potter they might actually catch on. "Any of you who feel the need to be prissy children about this leave. I refuse to teach those without a measure of intelligence."

To his, and the Slytherins surprise nearly all the Gryffindors quickly packed their things and left the room. Snape snapped his wand up and blasted one of the cauldrons that had been left behind. It threw across the room and bounced off the wall. As the dented metal rang out Snape made the decision to see them all expelled for their attitude. How dare they walk out on _his _class!

0-O-0

Professor McGonagall was in the middle of class when one of her fifth year cubs stuck their head in and asked if she could come speak with them for a moment. When she stepped into the hall she found most of the fifth year Gryffindors gathered around her door. "Mr. Backster, what is going on?"

"Well when we got to potions today most of us noticed our work areas hadn't been properly maintained so we had to clean them before we could start brewing. Professor Snape didn't like this and told us just to get to it. But we pointed out that the left over ingredient bits would contaminate our potions. I had some bits of brown gunk on my cutting board."

"There was slim on mine."

"Some kind of leaf juice, I think, on mine."

"I had bits of rat spleen still."

"Anyways he didn't like that and said if we were going to be prissy about it to leave because he wouldn't teach idiots." Backster finished.

McGonagall held her head. Honestly what was that man thinking! Even she knew brewing potions required a clean surface to prevent contamination. "Is there anything else?"

"Well he also gave me detention for the week and took some points because I was cleaning." Backster added.

0-O-0

Ron shuffled along to his next class. Since he had been back he hadn't actually done much. Well he told himself he needed that time to sort through the memories he had gotten, which were jumbled up and broken at best. Still he figured he probably should do something soon.

The first time around he had been friends with Potter, along with the know-it-all Granger and they had been in Gryffindor. He blamed Potter for not being a lion this time around. He was sure Potter had done it just to keep an eye on him because Potter knew he could be a threat to his evil plans.

Yes Ron had convinced himself that Potter had tricked the Sorting Hat to put him in the house of rejects and squibs so that Potter could watch him as, even without his memories, Ron was a threat to his plans. That made him feel much better.

Ron had considered just killing Potter but that wouldn't do. He needed to prove that Potter was evil first. Show the whole school, no the world! That Potter was a Dark Lord. Then he could defeat him and he'd be famous! Even more so than Potter was now. He'd have money. And Granger would realize he was the one she wanted to be with. Yes he had memories of them together. She might just be a muggle born but she was smart. He was sure Potter was using her somehow. Well he'd save her and Loony. He knew they weren't much now but in a few years they'd be lookers. He wasn't sure why that was important but he remembered that it was.

But for now he'd plan. He'd almost gone to the Cooking Club until he realized they'd probably expect him to actually cook and not just eat what everyone else made. Well he wasn't going to cook, that job was for a house elf or witch. Speaking of, he needed a house elf.

Well that was easy to solve. That night after dinner Ron used one of the secret tunnels he remembered to sneak away from the castle and apparate to Diagon Alley, he never stopped to think what would happen if he spliced himself, sadly for the world he didn't.

Gringotts was almost empty as nearly everyone had already gone home for the night. He went straight to the nearest teller. "I wish to access vault 1392, the key is 'Richard of York gave battle in vain.'"

"One moment." The goblin said. All tellers were required to know a great deal about certain accounts. Vault 1392 was set so that anyone who gave the correct phrase could access it. Still he needed to make a log of the entry as required by those who set it up. Not who accessed it of course, only that someone did.

Ron tapped his foot while he waited. He was a bit annoyed that he couldn't remember who had set up the account he was using, just that it was there and someone had told him the code to access it. Well it didn't really matter who was paying for it, he'd use the gold to stop Potter.

Another goblin arrived and escorted him down to the vault. The ride was enjoyable and he decided it was another perk to having enough gold for a vault. Well after he beat Potter and became famous he'd get a vault at the very bottom so he could get a longer ride.

Vault 1392 wasn't among the largest but it still held a fair bit of gold. Ron decided to take most of it since he couldn't be sure when he'd have another chance to access it.

After Gringotts Ron headed to the Magical Menagerie, he stopped to examine several of the creatures, since scabbers had disappeared he'd need a new pet, but that could wait for now. Besides he needed something better than what they sold to the riffraff. He walked to the counter. "I'd like to see your selection of house elves."

"Kid this is a pet store. We don't sell house elves." The clerk replied.

"Well where the hell do I get one then?" Ron asked, he was sure they sold house elves in his memories. Maybe they started that later on?

The clerk glared at him but wrote down another address. "Best shot is here, but they're expensive and hard to get."

"Fine." Ron snatched the paper and left the store. The address led him to one of the nicer side alleys tucked away between buildings. If you didn't know they were there you'd never have spotted them.

The store Ron had been directed to was completely empty except for a desk with an old man behind it. "How may I help you?"

"I was told I could get a house elf here." Ron said with doubt. It didn't look like they actually sold anything.

"I see, you can but there is a waiting list." The man replied.

"A waiting list?"

"Yes, unlike other creatures you cannot just breed house elves to meet demand. There is only a small window each year where they can have children and most of those are kept for employment with the family the elves belong to or are sold privately to friends. Currently the waiting list is a few months long." The man explained. Not strictly true of course, house elves could have children all year but under the current laws they could not be bred like other animals. At least not for open sale. It was all part of the pure bloods methods of keeping house elves with the old families only. The purebloods could always get another house elf from their own contacts but anyone else had to use a licensed seller, to insure no uppity mudbloods or half-bloods got one.

"Months?! That's unacceptable!" Ron shouted.

"I am sorry sir but it is the best that can be done." The man replied calmly.

"Fine, put me down on the bloody list." Ron snapped.

After his name was added Ron left for his next destination, a new wand. Ollivanders was out but there was another wand crafter Ron remembered. The wands were more expensive but fewer questions were asked. He also decided to replace most of his second hand items while he was at it, except the books, he never used those anyways. Plus he had till summer to think of an explanation for his parents.

0-O-0

Ginny hummed happily to herself. Her mum had told her that they were almost through with first year potions and charms. By summer she'd be ready for second year and get to join The-Boy-Who-Lived. She couldn't wait. They'd fall madly in love and be married after fifth year. She fell happily back onto her bed. Visions of her wedding danced through her head.

0-O-0

"Well the breakdown of the potion in the scars is proceeding nicely. We should be able to have your face fixed by the second week in July. Have you thought about whether you will return to Hogwarts?" The healer asked.

The girl shuddered as she remembered that monster that had cut her face. That gaping mouth. She was still seeing a mind healer for the fear she experienced at night and her parents were considering having the event removed from her mind after the scars were healed. "I don't know yet."

0-O-0

"Severus I just can't help you at this point." Dumbledore said in frustration.

"Why not! You always have before. It never mattered that a few of those talentless idiots complained." Snape shouted back. Both were doing their best to ignore the smell of boiled cabbage that had appeared from nowhere.

"Because it is not just a few, it is a majority of all the years. And they are correct. I know you do not clean some of the work station as well as you should. I have over looked such actions before because it helped you to only have Slytherins pass but now we can no longer hide behind ignorance on the student's part. They've caught on." Dumbledore explained.

"Because of Potter!" Snape snapped. How he hated Potter.

"Calm yourself. We can explain most of this away as a simple mistake. I'll send the elves to make sure things remain clean and you can find some new way to sabotage those who are not your students." Dumbledore said. He regretted that he was sacrificing a generation of potion brewers, well part of a generation but it kept Snape happy and allowed for him to appear in a good light with the Death Eaters. Just another sacrifice he was making for everyone's benefit. And it was not as if there weren't competent brewers elsewhere. They could come find work here and the students would seek something else. If they truly had a gift they'd learn it someplace else.

"And Potter?" Snape demanded.

"For now nothing, I've had a very difficult time keeping Judge Cortus calm. Once custody has been settled we will have more room to maneuver. And until then you still have his Quidditch game to ruin." Dumbledore said. Again it was a small sacrifice. A silly game to make his spy feel better.

0-O-0

The Cooking Club had lost several students but gained twice as many in new members. Thankfully Dobby had given them extra supplies for that days meeting. "Hello everyone. Today we're going to do something simple. Jell-O. We were originally thinking pudding but if we made that Luna would confiscate every bowl."

Luna growled but didn't say anything. The nearest students scooted a bit further away from her. Harry tried not to smile at her antics; he'd had to promise to buy her a lot of pudding that summer to make it up to her. "Now you will each get one of these small boxes in your choice of flavors. Ignore the directions on them as they're for non-magical preparation. Instead we've written up supplementary instructions for everyone. Any questions?"

"You mean this is a muggle food?" One of the older Ravenclaws asked with distain.

"To be fair most food is. There aren't exactly a lot of magical farms around. A lot of the food served here at Hogwarts also comes from muggle farms." Harry said as he remembered a passage about it in Hogwarts a History. The smile on Hermione's face meant she knew exactly where he had gotten the information from.

"What?!" The Ravenclaw shouted.

"Oh relax it's perfectly fine. Now if everyone would come up and pick their flavor." Harry motioned to the stack of small boxes on the table next to him. Hermione and Luna had done a few experiments to alter the preparation so it would be closer to brewing a potion. Water was the base and heated over a medium flame for four minutes before the Jell-O mix was added. Stirred a certain number of times, not that it actually mattered but it sounded better. Then it was placed under a chilling charm for twenty minutes.

They had decided that it would be an easy way to help introduce everyone to actually cooking, with no chance for explosions. After the bowls were mixed and placed under the chilling charm Harry pulled out some Jell-O molds he'd made beforehand and showed them off. Several of the purebloods were convinced that this, gel low, was in fact magical and either the muggles had stumbled onto it or that Harry had lied to them.

Aside from their horror the rest of the club passed happily with friends trading bowls to try the different colors. Several students were working on ideas for Jell-O in the house colors. When Hermione suggested some type of food coloring they quickly dragged her away to pick her brain. Harry suppressed a shiver; if they listened to her advice on cooking the three of them might be charged with attempted murder.

0-O-0

The morning of the Ravenclaw Slytherin quidditch match was cold but clear. The Hufflepuff team was clustered together debating who they thought would win and the various strategies that would be used. Ron continued to try and butt into the conversation without much luck, his red face showed he was quickly losing his temper at being ignored.

His coming explosion never happened as McGonagall made her way to their group. "There has been an incident and the Ravenclaw team will be unable to play. Since Gryffindor has already played Slytherin it has been decided that your house's match will be moved up to today."

"But we aren't prepared!" Cedric shouted.

"According to the Hogwarts quidditch rules, 'Any house team may be substituted in, should a scheduled team be unavailable.'" McGonagall quoted. Harry didn't miss the small smile that tugged at her lips. "Should you chose not to play today it will be counted as a forfeit in your scheduled game against Slytherin."

The Hufflepuff table erupted in protest before McGonagall silenced them with a glare. Barril stood. "We'll play."

"Very good." McGonagall said.

Barril turned towards the quidditch team. "Grab your gear, we'll show those snakes we can still beat them even with their underhanded tricks."

"A moment please." McGonagall stopped them from leaving the table. "I am afraid there is another matter. Madam Hooch is unable to referee this match so Professor Snape has volunteered to. However Mr. Potter will be unable to play as his current guardian has made it clear he is not to participate in any activity that places him into contact with Professor Snape."

"What?!"

"That's not fair!"

"How are we supposed to play without a seeker?"

"Quiet! If you wish to blame someone blame Mr. Potter for using his fame to try and get out of classes." McGonagall said hiding her smile. She was not particularly upset about not allowing Mr. Potter to play in the game as he had forced her to embarrass herself by apologizing in front of the student body.

Barril looked up and down the Hufflepuff table. "Anyone here want to blame Harry?"

Ron almost raised his hand until he realized no one else had and wisely decided not to draw attention to himself.

"Good, we need another player, seeker or chaser. Any volunteers?" Barril asked.

"I will!" Ron jumped up "I can play seeker."

"Sorry we don't have time to get another first year approved." Barril said. He turned his attention to Faluf, their seeker before Harry replaced him. "You up for it?"

"Of course. I'll show you what a seeker is supposed to do." Faluf said. He already had it planned out; he'd catch the snitch, win the game and then demand his spot on the team back. They'd have no choice but to accept after they saw him win them the game.

"Good, gab your gear. Sorry about this Harry." Barril apologized.

"It's not your fault. I wouldn't put it past Snape to have set this up just to keep me from playing." Harry said.

"Still, I'm going to check with Professor Sprout, maybe she can do something to help us." said Barril without much hope.

Luna took Harry's arm and leaned against him. "It's alright Harry."

"I know quidditch isn't really a priority but I like playing and Snape is really pissing me off. First going after us during break, when we got back, now this. I wish he hadn't started warding his room better." Harry said. Most of the professors had started warding their rooms with more complex spells. Hermione thought it would take twice as long to get into each room now. Well except for Snape's which had some nasty wards added. Those wards had no place in a school but could be pulled down by the caster in a moment so there was no point in sending an anonymous note to Madam Bones has they had intended upon discovering them. And since the wards set within the room they couldn't bypass them.

"Well how would you like to cause a bit of trouble then?" Luna asked sweetly. Harry and Hermione smiled at her plan.

0-O-0

It didn't take long for Luna to track down Hagrid. "Hello Hagrid."

"Well hello Luna. Looking forward to today's game?" Hagrid asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I have a favor to ask though, can I bring your doggy to cheer for the Hufflepuff team?" Luna asked sweetly.

"Well sure if you can get him to the stadium. Doesn't like crowds much." Hagrid said. It would probably do Fang good to be around more people.

"Thank you!" Luna gave him a quick hug before she hurried away.

0-O-0

Barril was not happy and his mood was reflected by the rest of the team, with the exception of Faluf who was already saying how much better he was than Harry. Barril had spoken to Professor Sprout but she hadn't been able to help since McGonagall was in charge of quidditch at Hogwarts. They were just preparing to take to the air when the ground began to shake.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna each rode on one of Fluffy's necks as he trotted across the field towards the quidditch stands. He wore a transfigured scarf wrapped around all three necks in the Hufflepuff colors. When they reached the stadium Fluffy stood on his hind legs, he was just tall enough for his front paws to reach the highest stands and to rest his head on them.

Students began screaming when his heads appeared over the back of the stands, most stopped when they saw Harry, Hermione and Luna riding on him.

Lee Jordan's voice echoed around the stadium. "Is that? Yes it is. That is the Cerberus, first obstacle of the Third Floor Death Challenge! For those who have been following the progress thirteen teams have managed to get past the Cerberus. Twelve of them have passed the second obstacle, a pile of Devil's Snare. Followed by the flying key obstacle with three teams reaching the enchanted chess set. Currently no one has managed to beat it…"

"Lee!" McGonagall finally snapped out of her shock at having the supposedly secret traps so easily revealed to the student body. She was a bit pleased her own trap had yet to be passed, not that it could be beaten by someone not on the approved listed. Thanks to a bit of rune work Albus had done the game always knew your next move. "How do you know all of that?"

"Well, like I said a bunch of students have spent the year trying to get to the end of the challenge. Why are you that color professor?" Lee asked in concern.

"Those traps are to remain a secret! All of you were warned to stay away from that corridor or face a painful death! What were you thinking?" McGonagall's magically enhanced voice flooded the stadium.

"Well, we all figured it was just some crazy challenge the Headmaster had come up with. I mean come on if it was really dangerous the door shouldn't have opened to a first year spell. And while the Cerberus isn't always the nicest thing around you can hardly call any of those obstacles deadly. Worst injury so far is a broken arm." Lee explained.

While McGonagall was trying to figure out a way to deal with Lee, and apparently the dozens of students who saw their traps as a fun obstacle course Dumbledore was hurrying towards the Hufflepuff stands. Several of the braver students had already come forward to pet Fluffy who was eating up the attention.

"Mr. Potter! What is the name of Merlin do you think you are doing?!" Dumbledore shouted. Snape and Hagrid were right behind him.

"I'm here to watch the game and cheer on my house sir." Harry replied.

"I meant why are you riding that creature." Dumbledore said, doing his best to keep his temper in check. First Harry shows up with one of the traps guarding the fake stone and then Lee Jordan reveals that a majority of the traps are already known to the general student population. And worse apparently students had been trying to get past them all year! This was a disaster, how was he to stage a confrontation between Harry and Voldemort like that?

"I asked Hagrid if we could bring him." Luna said happily and snapped Dumbledore back from his thoughts.

Dumbledore and Snape turned to face the half giant. "Er, well see, thought she meant Fang. Didn't know she knew Fluffy."

"Oh yes we're good friends. Harry Hermione and I visit him every week." Luna supplied. Snape made a motion to approach but a deep growl from all three heads stopped him.

"I see." Dumbledore said, well perhaps this wasn't a complete disaster. If Harry was part of one of those teams that had gotten to the chess set, he could casually direct him to the fact that Ronald was very accomplished at the game. Though there was still the concern of why his outer monitoring ward hadn't registered all of the activity. "And how far have you gotten my boy?"

"I don't really think that's an appropriate question to ask, what business of yours is it how far I have gone with either Hermione or Luna?" Harry asked. Both girls blushed but had to hold back their own laughter.

Dumbledore's gob smacked expression was almost more than Harry could take. Dumbledore quickly corrected himself. "No, no, I meant in the challenge."

"Oh, I haven't done the challenge. I just hang out with Fluffy." Harry said.

"I am afraid that you will have to take Fluffy back to his room, and then we will discuss your punishment for entering an out of bounds area." Dumbledore said.

"But Fluffy has been stuck in there for months." Luna complained. "Can't he just watch the game and stretch his legs a bit?"

Fluff whimpered and showed off how well his three heads could use the puppy dog eyes. Hagrid joined in. "Surely he could do with a bit of a break from guard duty couldn't he Headmaster?"

Dumbledore sighed. Really it wouldn't make much of a difference, and it would give him time to check the wards he set around the third floor corridor. Clearly he needed to add additional wards to keep other students out. Why would they go somewhere that they were warned could kill them? "Very well. Please return Fluffy after the match. I must go make sure these silly expeditions stop."

Snape wanted to snap all three of their necks. This was supposed to be a measure of revenge for him. Instead Potter and his whores had made a mockery of his revenge. His only recourse was to make sure Hufflepuff lost by such a large margin they couldn't win the cup that year but even that barely helped. He didn't know what Dumbledore had planned but he was now sure it wouldn't be enough. He would end the Potter line, so he swore.

The game was a slaughter. For every goal Hufflepuff scored Snape awarded Slytherin two penalty shots. For the first part of the game Fluffy's loud barks distracted the Slytherin chasers but they quickly became used to the noise and had a two hundred point lead by the second hour mark. Harry had spotted the Snitch half a dozen times, Faluf hadn't and it was painful for the Hufflepuffs to watch.

When Slytherin finally caught the snitch they won by 460 points. It was devastating for Hufflepuff. After the match the subdued students of Hufflepuff made their way back to the castle. Well most did, a few stayed to play with Fluffy who loved the attention. Epically, when Fred and George enchanted a large ball to fly around above his heads.

While they were watching Fluffy, Barril came over with Cedric. "If something like this happens again remind me to take Weasley up on his offer. He can't be worse than Faluf. He actually tried to blame the loss on you, saying the team had fallen apart because you had joined us."

"How'd everyone else feel?" Harry asked.

"Well most of us hexed him." He put a hand on Harrys shoulder. "Relax we know it wasn't your fault."

There was a loud thump as Fluffy fell to the ground and rolled onto his back. A pack of third years swarmed over his belly scratching him.

0-O-0

Dumbledore finished his adjustments to the wards. It seemed someone had bypassed his alarm and left it detached. Well that wouldn't happen again. Let's see those students get past his new wards.

0-O-0

Voldemort returned to Hogwarts and nearly killed the first students he ran into. Not that he had the magic needed to cast even a lumos at that point but he'd still have strangled the child. While he was out hunting a unicorn Potter and his friends had removed the Cerberus! His way had been clear and he had missed it!

Worse was that even if he knew how those children got past the beast it was useless until his magic returned, which thanks to the unicorn blood that now kept him alive would take a great deal of time. He couldn't even risk asking one of the brats how they did it as it would draw attention to himself.

At least he had the egg he needed; he could surely trick that half-blood idiot of a game keeper into revealing how to get past the beast. Maybe once the dragon had hatched he could steal it back and use it for something. Or maybe it would burn down the half breeds hut; it was made out of wood after all. That thought almost calmed Voldemort's rage - Almost. Failing all of the fifth years on their last test helped too.

0-O-0

The day of Harry's custody hearing finally arrived. Hermione and Luna would not be allowed to attend so they spent the morning wishing him luck and trying to keep him calm. His mood wasn't helped by Dumbledore who spent all of breakfast smiling. The hearing had been delayed twice at the Headmaster's urging, then suddenly he let it go ahead. That did not sit well with any of them.

Judge Cortus arrived at ten to escort Harry to the hearing. Hermione and Luna each gave him a last hug before he stepped into the floo.

The Ministry of Magic was busy that day. Harry spotted Mr. Weasley hurrying along; he shuddered when he saw Molly coming after him with a large lunch box raised in the air, her shrill voice attempting to get Arthur's attention. Harry ignored them as he followed Judge Cortus to the courtroom they'd be using. Sirius was already there as well as Dumbledore.

Several minutes passed before another Judge entered and took his seat at the front of the room. Judge Cortus leaned towards Harry. "Judge Matterson is fair. Don't worry."

Harry nodded as the hearing was called to order and the courtroom's doors shut. Judge Matterson looked at the few people gathered in the room, his eyes lingered on Harry. "Are all those who have applied for custody present?"

The court scribe looked at Sirius and Dumbledore. "Yes sir."

"Very well. Mr. Dumbledore since you filed first you may start." Matterson said.

Dumbledore stood. "Thank you. I have applied for custody of Harry as I have spent the majority of his life looking out for his best interests…"

"Objection your honor." Sirius's lawyer said. When the judge motioned for him to continue the lawyer went out. "It is a matter of public record that Mr. Dumbledore sent Mr. Potter to live in what has been deemed an abusive environment and never checked on him again. Not only that, but there is no record on what authority Mr. Dumbledore did this. He cannot claim to have ever looked out for Mr. Potter's wellbeing."

Matterson flipped through a few papers. "He is correct. I should also point out that because you were deemed to have placed Mr. Potter in an abusive environment you are automatically disqualified from gaining guardianship of him."

Dumbledore huffed but sat down. Harry was unnerved to see that he didn't actually appear upset. Rather he seemed, pleased. Harry's nerves were on edge as Sirius's lawyer presented the evidence that Sirius was mentally fit and had been approved to care for Harry. It was an impressive sounding list.

When the lawyer finished Judge Matterson examined the documents for only a moment before he set them aside. "Lord Black everything appears to be in order and you are granted custody of Mr. Potter."

Harry was out of his seat and hugging Sirius before most could react. Judge Matterson cleared his throat to regain their attention. "I regret to say though that there is a complication. The Wizengamot has recently passed a law stating that no person who has spent an extended period of time near dementors may have sole custody of a minor. I must assignee a co-guardian from a list of volunteer families."

Harry's heart sank. Dumbledore had to be behind this. Was this always his plan? A quick look told Harry that he was correct as Dumbledore smirked in victory. This could screw up all of their plans.

Dumbledore almost laughed. It had been easy to get the law passed; it had been harder making sure that no news of it slipped out before he was ready. That had also allowed his choice for Harry's guardian to volunteer; they were currently the only ones on the list. Yes it had all come together wonderfully. And soon Harry would be back where he belonged.

Judge Matterson checked another sheet of parchment. "The first family on the list of volunteers is the Weasleys."

A moment later a hesitant Arthur and a beaming Molly were escorted in. "Welcome to the family, darling!"

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	29. All in the Family

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Twenty Nine: All in the Family

0-O-0

"Welcome to the family, darling!" Molly said with a large smile, she opened her arms as if she expected Harry to run into them.

Instead, after a disbelieving moment, Harry dove behind Sirius. "Keep that kidnapper away from me!"

Molly didn't take that well. "Now you listen here young man…"

"Quiet!" Matterson shouted and drew everyone's attention back to himself. "Mr. Potter would you please explain your comment."

Dumbledore hurried to Molly's defense. "It was just a misunderstanding, easily settled with no bearing on today's events."

Judge Matterson glared down at Dumbledore. "Why are you even here still? Your claim was thrown out. Now please leave or I will have you escorted from this room."

"Now see here I am…" Dumbledore began.

"Not involved in the rest of these events. Leave." Matterson ordered.

Reluctantly Dumbledore stood and shuffled from the room. The perfect picture of a child being told he was too young to sit at the grown up table. Once Dumbledore was out of the room Judge Matterson turned back to Harry. "Now Mr. Potter please explain the comment you made about Mrs. Weasley being a kidnapper."

"Well back on the first day of school my two friends and I were getting on the train when that woman grabbed one of them and tried to drag her off. She said that Luna couldn't go to Hogwarts and then she threatened Luna. I had to hex her, grab Luna and practically throw her onto the train for us to get away from her." Harry did his best to sound like a child reliving a fearful event while using his mental shields to keep from laughing at Molly's red face.

"Mrs. Weasley, would you care to explain your actions on the first of September?" Judge Matterson asked.

Molly waved her hand dismissively. "It's just like the headmaster said. A mistake, nothing more."

Harry wasn't going to let her wave it off though. "Kidnapping isn't a mistake! It's a crime."

"I wasn't going to kidnap her! I was going to take her back to her house." Molly said as if the whole matter was beneath her notice.

Matterson intervened before another shouting match could break out in his courtroom. "And what legal authority did you have to order the child anywhere?"

That threw Molly for a loop. "What?"

"What legal authority did you have to order the child to go anywhere?" Matterson repeated slowly.

"Luna has been our neighbor for years and was too young to go to Hogwarts." Molly said as her defense.

"Hogwarts said she could go." Harry chimed in.

Judge Matterson sighed; this day was already too long. "Let me see if I understand this. Because the child lived near you, you felt it was your right to remove her from the Hogwarts Express against her will?"

"She has no business being there this year." Molly snapped at the Judge. Arthur had the decency to look embarrassed at his wife's reaction.

"Mr. Weasley, you've been quiet, what do you have to say for your wife's actions?" Matterson asked.

"I have spoken at length with Mr. Lovegood and while we agree that Molly made a poor decision he understands that it was done out of concern for his daughter. I have spoken with her about it." Arthur said.

"Perhaps you should explain it again because she doesn't seem to have accepted that she did anything wrong." Matterson said sternly.

"Sir?" Harry called out. "You said they were the first family, does that mean there are others who could be assigned instead?"

"Yes, there are two other families who have already volunteered. The Jinwells and the Marks. I will send a message to both." Matterson wrote two quick notes and dispatched them.

"You can't do that!" Molly shouted.

"Yes I can. I would be willing to accept that you made a mistake with the child but your actions within this room call into question your ability to hold your temper." Matterson informed her flatly.

Molly crossed her arms and frowned. Oh she wasn't worried about not getting Harry, Dumbledore had already taken care of things. A few charms would insure those other families pulled their names from the list. But how dare Harry treat her like this? She would have to teach him some proper manners and respect. This is what came from living with muggles.

"Sir? Could Mr. Lovegood become my co-guardian?" Harry asked the Judge.

"I am afraid not. The law states that I must award the position to someone on the list at the time guardianship is decided. Exceptions can only be made when the list is empty." He made a sidelong look at Molly. "And unfortunately I cannot remove a name from the list myself. No matter my feelings on the matter."

0-O-0

Harry spent the next hour while they were waiting for word from the other families talking to Sirius. He asked questions about his parents, even though he already knew the answers. It was a safe way to kill time while Molly sat and glared at them. Harry also tried to remember anything he could about either of the other families. He couldn't remember having ever heard the names before, so they probably weren't Death Eaters or in Dumbledore's pocket. Well he hoped not at least.

This whole co-custody law stank. Hermione and Luna were going to flip out about it, Harry decided he would likely join them. Well if worse came to worse they'd just have to figure out a way to deal with the families.

Harry's musing was interrupted when a clerk entered and spoke in a hushed, hurried tone to Judge Matterson. Harry couldn't hear what the clerk said but he could make out the Judge's response. "You're sure? Odd. Thank you."

Judge Matterson turned back to those assembled. "I have just been informed that both the Jinwells and the Marks have declined to come and expressed a desire to have their names removed from the list."

"And that doesn't sound suspicious?" Harry asked, his anger barely kept in check.

"Of course it does. But I can only call for an investigation. Until then I must still follow the law, no matter how much I believe the remaining family should not here in the first place. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley you are granted co-custody of Harry James Potter…" Judge Matterson had to slam his gavel to regain Molly's attention as she had immediately stood and headed for Harry. "Pay attention. As I was saying, because this is a new law, and it is clear to me that there is a great deal of underhanded methods being used I will exercise my ability to assign a court ordered medium. Judge Cortus, as you are already familiar with Mr. Potter I would ask you to act as the Medium."

"I accept." Cortus said immediately. He had an uneasy feeling about everything that had happened. The fact that the law had been kept quiet until that day was worrying.

"Excellent. Mr. Cortus will act to protect Mr. Potter's interests and insure the law is obey. Also should both guardians disagree on a matter he will act as the tie breaker." Matterson said.

"I'm sure there's really no need for all that." Molly began. "Dumbledore can…"

"Mr. Dumbledore is not involved in this matter. Mr. Cortus I suggest all of you take a bit of time today to lay down the basic rules of this, odd situation." Matterson said.

Harry was surprised by the amount of paperwork both Sirius and the Weasleys had to fill out after everything had been decided. Mr. Weasley only stayed long enough to add his name where needed before he was forced back to his office.

Cortus made arrangements for them to use a small meeting room just down the hall. Normally kept free for lawyers to argue things out in. Harry was about to follow Sirius into the room when Molly stuck out her arm to stop him. "Harry dear, this really isn't a place for you. Give me a moment to find the Headmaster and I'll have him take you back to Hogwarts."

Harry snorted and ducked under her arm. He was tempted to arrange an accident for her but she was so close to Dumbledore it would be difficult. Not to mention Dumbledore could manufacture something to blame it on Sirius and cause all sorts of problems. Maybe Hermione and Luna would have another idea but he figured he'd just have to bare the insufferable woman for now.

Disbelief showed on Molly's face as Harry ducked past her. None of her children had ever had the nerve to do that and she wasn't about to take it from him either. "You listen here young man that was completely inappropriate!"

"So was trying to keep me out of a meeting about my future." Harry pointed out as he took his seat. Sirius and Cortus both hid smiles.

"Nonsense! You're far too young to make any decisions about your future. Leave it to the adults." Molly said.

"Right, cause adults have such a wonderful track record with doing what is best for me. Dumbledore left me with those bastards, the Dursleys beat me and made me live in a cupboard, you tried to kidnap Luna…"

"That was just a misunderstanding…" Molly began.

"No it wasn't. No one accidently kidnaps a child like that." Harry said firmly.

Cortus decided to interrupt before Molly lost her temper again. "I agree that Harry should be allowed to stay. Sirius?"

"Of course he should." Sirius said with a carefree grin as Molly's face darkened.

"Fine! Since you all know best!" Molly flopped down in the free seat and pouted like a child who had been told she couldn't have desert.

Most of the things covered in the meeting seemed fairly mundane to Harry. But when they reached talk about Hogwarts and his schooling Harry came to a sudden realization. Molly and Dumbledore could use her position to cause all sorts of problems. "Mr. Cortus?"

"Yes Harry?" Cortus stopped what he had been saying and turned to face him.

"I have a request. Would it be possible to make it so that both you and Sirius have to be there as well, should anything happen at the school?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry dear I've dealt with the Headmaster a number of times and am perfectly capable of dealing with an issues that arise." Molly wore a smug smile as she spoke.

"That's what worries me. I don't trust you or Dumbledore not to go and decided a bunch of crap for me without asking anyone else. But it all three of you are required then at least Sirius will be able to look out for my best interests." Harry explained.

"I agree with Harry." Cortus said much to Molly's displeasure. "Perhaps not for the same reason but if we are all required to be there then there can be no question of anything underhanded happening. I will also be making arrangements with Dumbledore for a meeting to discuss a number of issues."

Molly returned to quietly grumbling, until the talks turned to where Harry would spend his holidays. "Well of course he will come to the Burrow."

"Why _of course_?" Sirius asked in a warning tone.

"You can't expect a child to be comfortable in the dark place you call a home. Filled with all sorts of nasty cursed items that would do horrible things to Harry." It was clear from her tone that she was trying to scare Harry away from going to Sirius's home.

Harry turned to Cortus. "I don't really have to stay with her do I? Two of her children spend all their free time trying to make my life miserable at Hogwarts. Thankfully they aren't very good at it."

"Unfortunately as a co-guardian it is her right to request you spend time at her home. I don't see any way to make everyone happy so I suggest that from the time Hogwarts releases for the summer until the end of July Harry stays with Sirius. From August first until school resumes Harry will reside at the Weasley's home." Cortus suggested. As he thought no one looked happy about the suggestion. Molly in particular.

After a great deal more discussion they settled on the suggested schedule. Though Molly kept making snide comments about having so little time to fix Harrys attitude. Harry was pleased to find that both Sirius and Cortus were unhappy with her attitude.

It was late afternoon by the time they finished and Molly hurried for the room, no doubt to complain to Dumbledore about their plan not working as well as she wanted. Sirius was about to escort Harry back to Hogwarts when something else occurred to Harry. "Wait, does this mean Mrs. Weasley can get into my vault now?"

Sirius and Cortus stopped and glanced at each other. Cortus was the first to speak. "As a guardian she would have the right to access it."

"We need to put a lock on the Potter accounts." Sirius said.

"And that means?" Harry asked, though he could guess from the name.

"A lock is an old pureblood thing. When all the members of a recognized house are underage and they fear that their guardians will steal from them they can have a lock placed on their family accounts. No one can withdraw any money or property from those accounts unless everyone who signs the lock agreement agrees to it." Sirius explained as they hurried towards the ministry's fireplaces.

"Of course there are exceptions." Cortus added. "Such as medical emergency and ministry ordered payments. Which they authorized for the Weasleys, but it won't be much against what your family owns."

"Does it have to be a family member who signs the lock? If not would both of you agree to sign as well?" Harry asked. He was sure there was no way someone could fake all three of their signatures. And even if it was limited to family Harry was reasonable certain that Sirius would count through his grandmother.

"Anyone you trust may sign." Cortus said. "But you must trust them because they could easily withhold their signature and make demands for it."

"I trust both of you." Harry briefly thought about asking Xeno as well but decided against it. That might make him too tempting of a target for Dumbledore and he refused to do anything that might cost Luna her father again.

0-O-0

Harry was surprised when at Gringotts they were not lead into the office he had visited previous. The goblin behind the desk glared at them over a parchment. "The former Potter account manager is not available. I am Spleanslayer and will be taking over those accounts. What do you want?"

"What happened to him?" Harry asked before he could help it.

"That is not your concern as it did not involve your accounts." Spleanslayer said gruffly. He wasn't about to tell them that the former account manager had disappeared. It had already caused a great deal of work within the bank as all of the information he had had access to had needed to be changed. "Again, what do you want?"

"We wish to place a lock on the Potter accounts." Sirius said before Harry could say anything else.

Spleanslayer gave Harry a long look. "Mr. Potter you do realize once this lock is placed you will be unable to access your account without the permission of all those who have signed the forms."

"I understand." Harry said. While he would lose access to his trust vault for the most part Harry was sure Sirius could loan him any money needed until he was of age.

Having a lock placed on the Potter accounts was a slow but not difficult process. Each of their identities was verified before a dozen rolls of parchment needed to be signed. After everything else that had happened that day Harry was glad for one easy thing at least.

Harry briefly considered talking to Sirius and Cortus about several of the issues he Hermione and Luna had decided to deal with, mostly dealing with the use of his image and name, but in the end Harry decided that he should speak with the girls first and let them know what had happened.

Actually considering the time he was sure he'd be in a great deal of trouble with them.

The group arrived at Hogwarts just in time for Harry to catch the end of dinner. Cortus informed them that he would make the arrangements with Dumbledore for a meeting within the next week and if Harry had any further questions to contact them.

0-O-0

Hermione and Luna glanced towards the doors of the great hall several times a minute. Dumbledore had returned to the castle for lunch and looked entirely too smug. They both knew something had gone wrong. But they had no idea of discovering what or how badly until Harry returned. And as the day had dragged on they began to consider worse and worse possibilities.

A few owls made evening deliveries that had missed the morning one.

Finally towards the end of the meal Harry entered, he spotted them and rushed over. He had barely sat down between them when Hermione demanded to know what happened.

"Dumbledore pulled a new law from his ass, Sirius now has co-guardianship of me along with…"

Harry was unable to finish as Percy strolled up to the Hufflepuff group. "Potter, I expect you to be on time for meals from now on. You are representing my family after all. In fact I believe I will arrange a family meeting so that we can…"

"You aren't family." Harry cut him off. "Your parents are only involved in my life because that old ass Dumbledore couldn't keep his crooked nose out of things that don't concern him."

"How dare you! Twenty points from Hufflepuff." Percy snapped.

"You can't, as the matter didn't involve school I am free to insult people as much as I like." Harry pointed out.

"What is going on?" Professor Sprout asked as she arrived at the table. "I will not have Gryffindor Prefects coming here to harass my students."

"It's a family matter." Percy said curtly. He was not overly concerned with the head of Hufflepuff as she didn't hold any power over his academic plans and as soon as he finished his O.W.L.s he wouldn't even need her class.

"Wrong." Hermione chimed in. "It wasn't a family matter as you aren't Harry's family. And even if it was when you began to shout and take away points it became a school matter."

"Be quiet girl, this doesn't concern you." Percy said.

Sprout, Hermione and Luna were all ready to take offence at him but Harry's laughter stopped them. "Oh man, maybe I was wrong. That is exactly like what my uncle acted like just before he threw me into the cupboard. Let's get something straight Weatherby, you are not family, your parents aren't my family. The only Weasleys I might consider family are the twins. Otherwise Draco is more family to me then you are."

The great hall had turned their attention to the entertainment when Percy had begun to yell and take points. Now they collectively gasped. To publicly claim a Malfoy over a Weasley, well no one had expected that from the boy who lived. Percy clearly hadn't as his face changed to a wonderful red, almost puce color. "You would side with a death Eater over my family? How dark are you?"

Harry snorted. "Death Eater? Draco, would you mind showing us your arm?"

Draco didn't hesitate, he lost nothing but further the humiliation of a blood traitor family. He made a note to write to his father right away about these new developments. Draco lifted both arms and drew back his shelves to show the pale skin.

"I don't see a Dark Mark." Harry said. "Maybe you meant his father? Well I won't be rude and speculate on such things in public. Let me out lay it for you. If anyone here is dark it is you. Draco's mother did not try and kidnap Luna from platform 9 3/4, neither he nor any of his family have spent their time trying to get me and my friends in trouble."

At least not that they knew of, Harry was fairly sure that Draco wasn't behind any of the unsolved issues though. "His parents didn't use their connection to Dumbledore to try and steal my guardianship away from my godfather. So yes, I'd claim Draco as family over most of the Weasleys in a heartbeat."

Percy believed many things, one of those being that his family while poor was better than any of the dark families. To have that not only denied, but to many proven wrong in public, was too much for him. It didn't matter if everything Harry said was true. He lunged at Harry who rolled out of his seat to avoid Percy. "I'll have you sent home so you can learn respect for my family!"

"Not going to happen." Harry said as he motioned for Hermione and Luna to lower their wands. He could already see Professor Sprout had hers out to deal with him. Sure enough as Percy tried to lung for Harry again he found himself tipping to the side, petrified.

"Mr. Weasley that is enou-"

No one had paid any attention to Ron. No one had paid attention to him when he left the Gryffindor table, come around the Hufflepuff table or raised his wand. He knew he couldn't do anything to severe to Harry yet, in fact having Potter as a brother meant he'd have abundant opportunities to finish the future Dark Lord off. But that didn't mean he couldn't make Potter pay.

Loony saw him a split second before the curse left his wand, a fraction of time to slow to raise the shield and stop it. The spell struck Harry between the shoulders. He smirked as Harry collapsed on the floor, bending at near impossible angle and screaming. Maybe he'd put a little too much power into the cramping curse.

That was his final thought before his world erupted into pain. He was blind and deaf to everything else as dozens of curses and hexes rained down on him and Percy from the Hufflepuff table.

0-O-0

Sirius had been reviewing some of the new custody documents he had received that day when Cortus floo called and told him they were needed at Hogwarts, Harry had been attacked. Sirius floo'd to Cortus's house before they both stepped back though and arrived in the Hospital wing.

They had just stepped out of Madam Pomfrey's office when the doors burst open and Molly rushed in followed by Dumbledore. "My babies! Where are they? I want whoever did this expelled! I want…"

Her loud and shrill rant was stopped when she faced two wands; the fact that they were both held by first year students somehow didn't take away from the seriousness of the situation. Dumbledore was not amused. "Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. Put your wands away this instant."

Neither of them moved to comply. Luna was the one to explain their actions. "This woman attempted to kidnap me, two of her sons assaulted Harry at dinner. If you believe that we are going to give this family a third chance to hurt us you are wrong."

Before Molly could explode, and judging by her colors it was bound to be a large eruption, Cortus stepped in. "Thank you both but Mr. Black and I will insure no harm comes to Harry."

Hermione and Luna traded glances before they reluctantly lowered their wands and turned back to Harry. Sirius turned to Poppy. "How is he? What happened?"

"Mr. Potter will make a full, if slow, recover. He was cursed from behind by Mr. Weasley…"

"Lies!" Molly shouted. "None of my sons would ever do such a thing."

"The entire great hall witnessed Ronald cast the curse." Poppy said in irritation. "After Percy had already tried to physically assault him. Incidentally that is also why both of them are here, each was cursed at least two dozen times by the majority of Hufflepuff and a number of Gryffindor's. You are lucky none of the curses caused a bad reaction with the others."

"What curse did Mr. Weasley use?" Cortus asked. He was already planning to take the matter to Matterson.

"An extremely overpowered cramping curse. Normally it would not have been serious enough to warrant a stay here but as I said, it was drastically overpowered and struck his back. Several of his ribs are bruised, one actually cracked, extensive muscle damage. We are lucky that his heart did not take any noticeable damage but I will have him under observations for the next two days to be sure." Poppy explained.

Sirius moved to speak with Hermione and Luna while Cortus turned his attention to Molly and the Headmaster. "I believe after Mrs. Weasley has checked on her children we should all move to your office to discuss this matter."

Dumbledore nodded, he knew this was a delicate situation. If his plan had worked as intended it would be him and Molly against Sirius, a battle of wills he was sure he could win. But now that old fool Cortus was on Sirius's side. Worse that old fool knew the laws! Perhaps better than Dumbledore himself. How was he supposed to manipulate the game if his opponent knew more of the rules than he did? That was how he won, it wasn't fair to turn it against him. "I agree, this is a serious matter that much be discussed in detail so that justice can be done for all parties."

Cortus resisted the urge to snort at Dumbledore's political talk. He watched the headmaster leave before he turned back to the healer. "Madam Pomfrey, may I make use of your floo again?"

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry about this chapter being late, and shorter than normal. I recently injured my hand and it has slowed me down a bit. So it was either a shorter chapter or another week of waiting, and after the last cliffy I thought I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Comments and critiques are welcome; flames will be force-fed to a random minion. As always a big thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	30. Showing restraint

My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty: Showing restraint

0-O-0

Molly sat silently fuming in Dumbledore's office. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to have co custody of Harry with Black. She could then work with Dumbledore to browbeat Sirius into submission. Tell him it was for the best that Harry stayed with her family, that he needed the love after what those muggles had done. She'd then slowly push him out of the picture until Harry viewed Sirius as an annoying uncle or other minor relation.

But no, that judge had interfered. It was as if they had no respect for Dumbledore. She didn't considered most of the older ones did not as they had watched Dumbledore try and marginalize the courts for his own gains.

Now Cortus was involved in things and he dared to stand up to her, she'd bet her left foot he didn't have children, what did he know about them? Nothing, that's what, he was treating Harry like the child actually knew what was best for him!

Now two of her sons were in the hospital wing, hexed by dozens of other children. Well she knew who was to blame, Black and Cortus. She was a bit fuzzy on the how but she knew it was their fault. If she'd just been allowed to do as she wanted, what Harry needed, everything would have worked out much better.

Well no matter what else she still had resources, among them her new access to the Potter vault. It wasn't full access by any means but she'd drain what she could. After all since he'd marry Ginny someday it was basically her family's money already.

Yes, she'd go and buy something nice for Percy and Ron as repayment for this whole mess. She was sure she could make Harry give a very public apology as well, that would be the first step on breaking him. Dumbledore would deal with Cortus and then they could move ahead with Black. Or maybe he could just arrange for an accident. With no relatives left poor Harry would have no choice but to turn to her family. She wondered why Dumbledore had ever given up such a wonderful plan. It would certainly be less trouble than all this. Maybe she'd have to look into it again.

The office door opened and Sprout and McGonagall entered. Molly tapped her foot impatiently. Didn't Cortus and Black know how rude it was to make them wait? Honestly it was no wonder Harry had such bad manners. It never occurred to her that Harry hadn't spent enough time with either of them to have learned any manners, or lack of.

Finally they arrived, with Arthur Weasley. "Arthur! What are you doing here?"

"Cortus called and informed me there had been an incident involving Percy, Ron and Harry. I rushed right over." Arthur said as he took a seat.

"Really, I have it well in hand. I'll tell you all about it later. Besides someone needs to pick up Ginny soon from the Diggory's house." Molly said with a fake smile. How dare they interfere with her family? Oh they'd pay.

"I called them and explained there was an emergency so we'd be a bit late." Arthur said.

That wasn't what Molly wanted to hear. But Albus had advised her to hold her temper in check. That Cortus could still cause them problems if she went off when he was around. So she was forced to just nod.

Dumbledore looked around his office and realized that he was at a disadvantage. He had not yet been able to discover the details of what happened during dinner, being forced to spend time trying to make sure Molly would not do anything that could cause them more trouble. Not only that but when Arthur walked in Dumbledore realized he had miscalculated.

Arthur was not a concern in his original plan as he and Molly could easily convince him to let her handle things. But with Cortus and Sirius representing Harry's interests Arthur would listen to them and do what he felt was right. Not a wholly bad attitude, but Arthur couldn't see the whole picture.

No, this was not going to do. He and Molly were outnumbered. Well it would be best to just get things over with. "I believe it would be best to cover the events of this morning before we reach the incident that has brought everyone here. Today was the custody hearing for Harry Potter. Mr. Black applied and was granted partial custody. There were concerns about his time spent in Azkaban."

"A law you pushed through and kept hidden until the hearing today." Sirius pointed out.

Dumbledore ignored him and continued. "The Weasleys were award custody of Harry as well."

"Co-custody." Cortus pointed out. "Because of, irregularities with the law and application process I was assigned to make sure things were done legally and in Mr. Potter's best interest. Most of the day was spent working out arrangements. Harry returned to Hogwarts during dinner."

"Well now that we are caught up, Professor Sprout could you please tell us what transpired during dinner?" Dumbledore asked.

Sprout stood and brushed down her robs. "Harry had just entered the great hall and sat with Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood when Percy Weasley made his way over and began to speak with him. I learned later that he began to give Harry orders about how he was to act now that he was supposedly part of the family."

"He was just looking out for Harry like any good brother." Molly butted in.

Sprout ignored her interruption. "Harry informed him that they were not family…"

"Of course they are now." Molly said. She was only holding her temper by a thin thread. Percy had just done what she had told him to and tried to set Harry straight about what was now expected of him.

"Actually there are laws that state that Harry can deny you the status as family if he wishes." Cortus said. "Naturally that applies to anyone else in your family as well."

Molly turned to Dumbledore who only gave a slight nod of his head. He hadn't expected those laws to be an issue because he hadn't expected anyone to know about them. Attempting to remove them could have led to questions he felt were better left unasked.

"Percy Weasley became very loud and disturbed the meal." Sprout continued. She outlined everything that had happened up until Ron cursed Harry in the back and dozens of students turned on him and Percy.

Molly was ready to storm the Hufflepuff common room. Those brats had attacked her children when they hadn't done a single thing wrong. Harry should have just submitted. He was too unruly, too wild. Dumbledore had warned her not to use potions on Harry but she didn't see another option with the limited time she'd have him over the summer.

Others had different reactions. Arthur was not happy with his children and planned to have a long talk with them especially Ron. Cortus and Sirius were both disgusted, the former actually growled at Molly. Cortus was the first to speak. "Let's start at the beginning and work our way through the events. I agree with Percy's point deduction. While Harry is entitled to his opinions it is rude to insult Dumbledore in Hogwarts. We can all agree that Percy was also the one to start the confrontation and the first to attack as well, correct?"

Oh how Molly wanted to say something. That brat had said that he would rather claim a Malfoy as family than her sons? He'd pay for that. Maybe new top of the line brooms for them? Percy didn't fly but so what. Maybe she'd use some of Harry's money to bribe a few people at the ministry to get Percy a good position. Merlin knew her husband just didn't have the will to advance. His silly love for those disgusting muggles had stalled his career and left him in no position to help his sons find a good job. Yes, that would be a good start to Harry repaying them for this evening.

Molly realized everyone was watching her and quickly nodded. The look from Arthur showed that he would not accept anything but her consent in the matter. Why couldn't he be that determined at work?

Cortus continued. "Good, I would like to know what punishment they will face. Percy for his attempted attack on a first year student and Ron for his potential lethal curse."

"I believe." Dumbledore began. "That the curses and hexes they had endured are punishment enough."

"Hardly. They suffered those curses because they were stupid enough to attack a Hufflepuff in front of his house. Isn't the unofficial moto still 'Poke the Badger, face the cete.' Or has it changed since I attended?" Cortus said with a hint of anger. He despised Dumbledore trying to let everyone off with a warning. It just didn't work! "They must face punishment for their actions and be told those actions were wrong, why they were wrong and offered alternatives."

"I intend to have a long talk with both of them about just that." Arthur promised.

"As Headmaster, final say for all punishments lay with me. I am afraid that _you_ have no say in the matter." Dumbledore stated.

"Come off it. They attacked Harry and you want to just let them walk?" Sirius growled out.

"They have suffered enough. Really your opinion on the matter shows exactly why the law of co-guardianship was passed." Dumbledore said in an attempt to provoke a reaction. That could see the positions changed.

Cortus resisted the urge to throw something heavy at Dumbledore as he spoke. Could the man not help pulling his tricks? "You seem unconcerned that the children of a co-guardian attacked Mr. Potter."

"Nothing more than a childish squabble, I am positive that they will be friends by the end of the week." Dumbledore said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I see, well I believe we are done here." Cortus rose from his chair. "You can expect Madam Bones within the hour."

"What? Why?" Molly asked in confusion.

Sirius immediately caught onto the plan and stood as well. "Two of your children attacked Harry; one of them could have cost him his life. Add in that he's the boy-who-lived and I think we could get attempted line extermination to stick."

The occupants of the room looked on in horror. Dumbledore's face was as pale as his beard. "You would condemn children to Azkaban?"

Sirius shuddered. "No, not Azkaban, and we wouldn't ask for death either. But I'm sure their wands would be snapped and they'd be placed on house arrest."

"You can't!" Molly shouted. This had gone on long enough, no one threatened her children. She tried to rise, only to find that someone had place a body bind on her.

"Please reconsider." Arthur begged.

"If the Headmaster can provide an appropriate punishment then we will not file charges for this attack." Cortus said with a hard look at Dumbledore.

With a deep sigh Dumbledore nodded. Why couldn't the Weasleys keep their temper in check? Their blind loyalty to him made them the perfect host family for Harry but they insisted on throwing that chance away. It hadn't even been a full day! "What would you suggest, since you have so much experience punishing people."

"A hundred points lost for each, twenty detentions for each, Percy will lose his Prefect position as such behavior from someone in authority is inexcusable, and a ten foot long report from Ron on the dangers of such curses." Cortus replied evenly. He had briefly considered other options but didn't feel the need to push too far. Not with his other plan.

"That is fair." Arthur said. He agreed with the punishments as they were hard but much less than what they could expect if the matter went to court.

"Wonderful. Now that that is settled I believe we have all had a hard enough night." Dumbledore said as he dismissed them.

"Oh Headmaster." Cortus called out. "We would also like to set up another meeting to discuss Professor Snape."

"Of course." Dumbledore sighed again.

0-O-0

As the stepped out of the floo into the judge's home Sirius couldn't hold back any long. "What are you up to? I recognize that look; James always had it when he came up with a great prank."

"Prank? Good sir I am a judge. We do not prank. That being said all we agreed to was not to file charges against those children." Cortus said with a sly smile.

"Alright, and that means we can…. Do what?" Sirius asked.

"File a restraining order. Charges are not needed, only to prove a danger to the person. In this case Harry." Cortus explained as they walked to his office. He kept a number of forms on hand to review from time to time.

"And if they can't get close to Harry then he can't stay with them over the summer! They might even lose their co-custody." Sirius exclaimed. I was brilliant! He'd have to speak with Moony about making Cortus a Marauder.

"I believe Albus will find a way to worm them out of that, but it will inconvenience him and the Weasleys. And as the saying goes, 'if you can not win, annoy.'" Cortus found the forms he needed and began to fill them out. He'd get another copy of the official report from the Hogwarts Healer and send it right off the Judge Matterson, or perhaps he should see if Madam Bones would endorse it first.

0-O-0

Judge Matterson was not in a good mood as he finally left the Ministry. After the Potter custody hearing he had done his best to track down where the new law had come from and gather support to see it removed. He, like many of the older generation was from before a time where magical children were raised to see Dumbledore as an infallible man. Unfortunately most of those in positions of importance _now_ were from the generation that had been. Dumbledore's words were enough to sway many of them.

It was later that night; around the same time that Harry was attacked in the great hall that Judge Matterson learned the other reason why there had been no support to remove the poorly written law. Publicity.

A special addition of the Daily Prophet praised Fudge and a number of others for their forethought in protecting certain children, while it didn't come out and say Harry Potter he was heavily implied as not only being the one protected, but also endorsing the law.

Matterson nearly growled at it. He hated these political games. Well Cortus would be raging mad over this. He decided to go visit him and see if they couldn't cause a bit of trouble.

0-O-0

Harry groaned, he hated Bludgers and it felt like one had worked him over pretty good. He cracked open an eye and groaned again. Hermione, Luna, Hedwig and Crookshanks were all gathered around him. A Bludger was preferable to the glares they were all directing in his direction.

"Harry James Potter, don't you dare pretend to still be asleep." Hermione said sternly.

"What happened?" Harry asked as he tried to sit up. He knew better than to go against her when she used that tone.

"That bastard Ron cursed you from behind with a cramping curse." Hermione paused as she fought back tears. "Madam Pomfrey said it could have killed you if it had affected your heart."

Harry glanced at Luna and shuddered, she had that look that meant he had screwed up. She cast a privacy charm around them. "Where were your protective charms? They would have stopped that curse easily."

"I wasn't sure if they'd set off anything at the Ministry so I didn't wear them." Harry admitted.

"Damn it! We all agreed to wear them!" Luna smacked his sore shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd be attacked." Harry said.

"That's no excuse, what would you do if Hermione or I didn't wear our charms?" Luna asked.

Before Harry could respond Crookshanks trotted across his stomach and sat on his chest. Then swiped at Harry's nose. "Hey!"

"_Bad minion."_ Crookshanks said sternly.

"_He is correct, if you can not remain out of trouble I will have to follow you from now on."_ Hedwig added.

"I get it, I messed up. I feel bad enough as it is. Damn, I don't remember Ron being strong enough to make me feel this bad. I mean he could barely cast that slug belching curse." Harry said.

"Maybe he's actually been studying this time." Hermione suggested.

Before they could continue Madam Pomfrey left her office and Luna hurriedly removed her charms. "Mr. Potter, I wasn't expecting you to be awake just yet. How do you feel?"

"Like Oliver Wood put me through ten consecutive practices." Harry admitted.

"I see his reputation has spread to the other houses. Well I will be keeping you for a few days to make sure there is no damage I missed but you should make a full recovery." Madam Pomfrey said as she checked him again. "Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, you should both return to your common room. You may return and check on him in the morning."

They thanked her, made sure Harry would listen to her with a few mild threats, glared in the direction of Ron's and Percy's beds, then left. They passed a frayed looking Arthur in the corridor, he didn't notice them.

"Luna, I think it's time for Rita to get another story, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes." Luna agreed.

0-O-0

Rita was sound asleep when a flash of fire woke her. She instinctively transformed into a beetle to escape. It was only when she reached her window that she realized the flash of fire had come from the phoenix that was now seated at the foot of her bed. She returned to her normal form and accepted the letter the phoenix had before it left.

A quick glance over the parchment and a smile bloomed on her face. She'd already been working on a story about Potter's custody. This was a much better angle though. She also had to admire whoever wrote the note; they'd used a standard dicta-quill and worked their words to eliminate any type of speech pattern. It was impressive.

0-O-0

Hermione and Luna were waiting at the doors when the hospital wing opened for visitors at six the following morning. They weren't the only ones; Arthur Weasley was also there but seemed distracted. He had been unable to talk with his sons the night before as they were both still unconscious, his anger had only simmered over the night and was if anything worse now. As soon as they were allowed in he made straight for the beds where his sons were and placed a privacy charm around them.

The girls began filling Harry in on the general reaction of the school and students to what had happened, as much as they'd been able to gather from their housemates. When Hedwig flew in through a window and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet on Harry's bed with a smug look. Before she stole a bit of bacon from his plate as payment.

They didn't notice as they focused on the headline.

_**PLOT AGAINST POTTER!**_

_By: Rita Skeeter_

_My dear readers, I was preparing a story about the recent custody hearing for our own Boy-Who-Lived when I received a bit of shocking information. But allow me to set the stage for you first. _

_Applying for custody of his godson was the new Lord Black, friend of the Potters and recently freed from his illegal imprisonment in Azkaban. I, like many of you, had concerns over how fit he would be to care for young Harry after spending such a long time in Azkaban, where most prisoners are classified as insane in just one or two years. To prepare for this Lord Black saw several specialists who all declared him mental fit to raise a child._

_Wonderful news, except for one large issue. Recently a new law was passed that stated anyone who had spent extended time around dementors (the time needed to classify as extended was not defined) could not have sole guardianship over a minor._

_This law was purposed and passed quickly in a closed door session. It was kept quiet under several secrecy laws. Why was it kept quiet until the day of Harry's hearing? No information on why was given._

_Judge Matterson approved Lord Black's claim, though little else is known at this time about the hearing. What is known is that because of this new law a co-guardian was appointed. The Weasleys._

_I am sure many of you are thinking that it could only help Harry to have more support. Well apparently not._

_When Harry returned to Hogwarts for dinner Percy Weasley, currently the oldest of the Weasley children at Hogwarts, approached Harry and began to give him orders as he apparently believed that Harry now had to obey him. The resulting shouting match ended with Harry saying that Draco Malfoy, son of Luscious Malfoy, was more family to him than Percy and defended Draco against Percy's ludicrous claims that young Draco was a Death Eater._

_Percy did not take this well and attempted to physically assault Harry. While Harry was able to dodge the first assault Ronald Weasley, currently the youngest of the Weasley children at Hogwarts, cursed Harry in the back._

_A despicable act and one that could have been fatal as the cramping curse used could have stopped Harry's heart had it hit him just a few inches higher. Both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor houses rose in anger to the assault and cursed Percy and Ronald. Including the other two Weasley children currently at Hogwarts._

_Harry is currently confined to the Hogwarts hospital wing as he recovers and is monitored for complications. How will this affect the Weasley's co-guardianship of Harry? We do not yet know but it is clear that if anyone is a danger to The-Boy-Who-Lived it is the Weasleys._

"Well that's going to cause a few ruffled skirts." Harry remarked as he finished.

0-O-0

Molly was enraged after she read the morning paper. How dare they attack her family like that! Well Dumbledore would set them straight. He had already promised to restore the lost points to her children with some public praise of their skills and to accept Percy as an apprentice. Even if Dumbeldore didn't teach him anything it would look wonderful once he was out of Hogwarts. She had also been assured that Percy would still make Head boy. And in the meantime she'd just go and buy her sons those brooms she'd decided to get them.

Her mood didn't improve when she reached Gringotts and learned that the Potter vaults had been sealed. No amount of ranting could get her any more information other than an account holder had requested it. In the end she had to be forcibly escorted out.

0-O-0

Arthur Weasley stepped out from behind the curtains to apologize to Harry; he took one look at the Daily Prophet on Harry's nightstand though and turned right back around. He'd apologize later; Ron and Percy needed another scolding.

0-O-0

Dumbledore considered if it would be worth putting some type of soundproofing charm around his floo, or perhaps he should just disconnect it? He had been prepared for some political backlash over the law, but between the actions of the Weasley sons and Rita somehow discovering what happened it was far worse than he had anticipated.

He knew it was only a matter of time as well before Fudge arrived to complain about the lack of positive support for the law. That would not do, he needed something to distract the population, something to make them appear to be the better option for young Harry.

Perhaps Molly had given him the information he needed to do just that when she had begun to rant about the goblins.

0-O-0

Luna skipped into the hospital win after dinner. "Good news Harry."

"You two have finally finished the medallion so we can catch Riddle and be done with this?" Harry asked skeptically. "Cause I remember you said it should be finished around Christmas."

"Almost. It's charging. We did have those odd problems. The first stone we used broke half way through, and then we had to adjust to account for the whole being divided into pieces." Luna reframed from saying soul, or anything else that might give away what they were talking about in case they were overheard, even though she had cast a privacy charm around them.

"Wouldn't that just make him weaker?" Harry asked.

"Probably, but we were worried he might be able to pull himself to one of the other pieces so we had to take the rune formula and invert it as a second lay to keep outside interference from occurring…" Luna trailed off as she saw the glassy look in Harry's eyes. "We were being careful."

"Got it. So what are you so excited about if that isn't it? Did you and Hermione finally decided to help me bust out of here?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No, this is one of the few places you haven't been hurt in. No the exciting news is this!" Luna pulled a stack of cards from her pocket and handed them to Harry.

"Quibbler cards? So you finally finished them?" Harry looked through the stack. He recognized most of them but they looked more professional than her first attempts.

"Yes, and Daddy is going to print them up and sell them in the Quibbler!" Luna said. "Fred and George have also agreed to help me put the same type of charms on them that chocolate frog cards have to prevent counterfeiting. They're also going to help us sell them."

Harry suddenly felt as if Luna was actually a movie villain telling him her plans to take over the world. What potions did Madam Pomfrey have him on?

0-O-0

_**Plot Against Potter, By Black!**_

_By: Aketa Skeeter_

_Loyal readers of the prophet. Recently you may have seen an article that cast doubt upon the upstanding family that is the Weasleys. However this was not the entire story. Molly Weasley recently went to Gringotts bank to check on Harry Potter's accounts as any wonderful, caring guardian would. Only to discover that they had been sealed. This could only have been done by a guardian, and since neither Weasley did so it must have been done by Sirius Black. But why would Black seal access to the accounts?_

_Speculation is that the once mighty Black fortune has all but been depleted by their long time support of the dark arts and in a bid to reclaim some of their once extensive wealth Black has been stealing from the Potter accounts! Why else would he have the accounts sealed but to cover up his own crimes?_

_We must band together and demand that Black is removed from his role as guardian of Harry Potter and his custody is fully turned over to a more deserving family such as the Weasleys._

Dumbledore folded the paper with a sigh. He had really expected more from Rita Skater's sister. But apparently only Rita had inherited the gift of writing.

0-O-0

"I don't know if I should be more insulted about what they said about Sirius or that they let an amateur write this." Harry said when he saw the article. He had finally been released on the condition that if he felt any odd sensations or unexplained fatigue he'd return at once.

"I'd be more insulted at the poor quality of writing." Luna offered as she animated several tiny bacon people to entertain Hedwig and Crookshanks.

"I'm sure Sirius and Mr. Cortus will have this taken care of soon." Hermione said absently. She was already figuring out how to approach Rita and see what she knew of this. Then perhaps a visit to this Aketa Skeeter was in order.

They would be disappointed as Rita hadn't heard from her sister in years and had no idea where she would be. Where ever it was though must have been behind wards lacking the normal owl holes as Hedwig was unable to locate her, and all mail was redirected to the Daily Prophet.

Dealing with an annoying reporter was pushed to the back of their plans as the medallion reached the final stages, needing only a few drops of Harry's blood to bind it. They stood in the Room of Requirements as he let three drops of blood land on the stone. A flash of magic showed that it had taken.

Harry picked up the medallion and studied it. A monocle sized black stone, polished smooth and lined with silver. The smallest runes he had ever seen swirled around the smoky gem in the center. "So this will catch Riddle's soul if he tried to pass through it or possess me?"

"Yes, as long as you are wearing it." Hermione said with a pointed look. Harry nodded, even after he had been released from the hospital wing the four of them had still been on his case about taking off his protective charms.

"I know I know, never take it off. Hopefully we'll find an excuse to deal with him sooner rather than later." Harry said.

"You could just slap him." Luna offered again, she thought her simple plan was the best.

"If we were sure that his touch would cause Quirrell to turn to ash again it would be a viable plan. But we never established if it was some type of protection or accidental magic." Hermione pointed out.

"It would be awesome if it was the 'power he knows not'." Harry said.

"I think he knows about spontaneous combustion." Hermione said.

"Isn't it more of disintegration though?" Luna asked.

0-O-0

Sirius, Cortus, Judge Matterson and Madam Bones sat at the table in the small apartment Sirius was renting. They were discussing a number of issues, among them the recent article in the Prophet as well as the restraining order. Cortus had explained to Sirius that with her signature it would be ironclad, even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to interfere. Though they all suspected he would at least try.

A loud pounding at the door broke their conversation. Sirius stood with a sigh. "I swear if it's those kids again selling more cooking for their football team I'm going to stick an anti-muggle ward on the door. I've already bought twenty boxes."

"Twenty boxes?" Cortus asked.

"I'm not good at tell them no alright? They looked so helpless, like little lost puppies." Sirius defended himself.

When he yanked open the door his plans to maybe scare the children a bit vanished. There were no children. Instead there stood Fudge and a dozen aurors. The Minister fidgeted with his hat. "May we come in?"

"Er, sure." Sirius stepped back and held the door open for them.

Fudge replaced his hat only to remove it again as they entered. "Bad business this is Black. A dark family stealing for the Boy-Who-Lived. Afraid I don't have any choice but to arrest you and sign over full guardianship to the Weasleys."

"And what proof do you have the back up these claims?" Madam Bones asked as she stepped out of the kitchen, Cortus and judge Matterson followed her. "Or were you planning to repeat the past and just arrest him without proof, imprison him without a trial? And who authorized the use of my men for this?"

Several of the aurors looked ashamed. A few didn't. "The Minister ma'am."

"We will talk about that later than. Cornelius?" Madam Bones turned toward Fudge.

"Well the Prophet said… Lots of letter… I had to be seen doing something!" Fudge choked out.

"So you want to arrest a man with no proof? I'm sure the papers will love that." Madam Bones said.

"Surely you don't believe Black is innocent?" Fudge asked in shock. Luscious had assured him everyone knew Black was guilty this time.

"I have already investigated the matter. I went to Gringotts and checked the files myself. Harry Potter requested his family accounts locked and asked Sirius and Cortus to counter sign the order because he didn't trust Molly Weasley. The fact that she found out about the lock so soon, and that Gringotts records show she wanted access to money, not paperwork as she has claimed, lead me to believe that." Madam Bones said. Fudge was becoming more and more of a nuisance, and she suspected this would cost a few of those aurors that had followed him here their jobs.

"But…" Fudge began.

"You'd have known that if you had bothered to ask me about the investigation as you should have." Madam Bones said.

"Er…" Fudge looked around uncertainly. This wasn't what he had expected. Thank Merlin that he had resisted the urge to invite those reporters as he had planned. He didn't know the Rita had been at the Ministry snooping around for information about Harry, or her own sister, when fudge had called for the aurors and followed them. Yes, this would make a wonderful front page.

0-O-0

Within the gray walls of Azkaban a sound rarely heard rang out, laughter. Bella twirled around in her cell laughing and singing to herself. "Fly away, fly away, fly away home!"

Peter coward from the insane woman. "Did she finally crack?"

"If I were to guess." Replied Rookwood. "She has either discovered her form is a type of bird or has temporarily gone sane."

"Sane?" Peter asked.

"I believe her normal state to be insane, therefore when she has a bought of sanity her mind is unsure how to deal with it. She'll probably calm down soon. If not, well at least we have the music." Rookwood said in an almost cheerful voice.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading. My goal of getting this story back on a bi-weekly update schedule was destroyed by a second hand injury to my already injured hand. I will officially state that I sliced my hand while cutting down a mighty Oak tree in a very manly way, the rumor that I did it while cutting apples is a dirty lie spread by the anti-minions. While I will once again try to publish again within the next two weeks I can't be sure if I'll make it. Thank you to everyone who wished me well and as always a big thanks to my Beta readers Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	31. Unicorn Blood

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty One: Unicorn Blood

0-O-0

_**Plot Against Potter, But **__**NOT**__** By Black**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

**Recently my own younger sister wrote a story about how some believed Sirius Black was stealing from his godson Harry Potter. While I congratulate her for her... valiant... attempt at journalism she failed to check her information and as a result history almost repeated itself. Yesterday Minister Fudge arrived at Black's apartment with nearly a dozen aurors to arrest Black because he felt he had to be seen doing something.**

**Only the presence of Madam Bones, who was present to discuss a number of issues with Black prevented his arrest. Madam Bones reported that, and I am now able to confirm, it in fact was Harry Potter himself who asked for his accounts to be sealed! **

**You may ask why he would do such a thing; the answer is easy to guess. Harry Potter does not trust Molly Weasley, and with good reason. (See a repeat on the attempted kidnapping of Miss Luna Lovegood Page. 3) Gringotts has also confirmed that Mrs. Weasley did not, as she has claimed, ask for information or papers from the Potter vault, but rather rudely demanded money.**

**The question is why? The Weasley's are paid automatically for their care of Harry so they have no need to withdraw any money for his care, especially as he is still at Hogwarts.**

Harry continued to read the article but it didn't say much more. Opinions had been ping ponging back and forth between who was worse for Harry, Sirius or the Weasleys.

0-O-0

Judge Matterson rubbed his eyes tiredly. Even after the attack against Harry those damn politicians refused to repeal the custody law. He was fairly sure it would take Harry Potter actually dying before they would admit that they had made a mistake.

Worse was that the custody law actually seemed designed to make it impossible to remove a child from the family. Instead of a proper investigation a committee of three was assigned to look into all cases dealing with a child assigned a co-guardian under the new law. The committee was happy to believe Dumbledore when he said the incident was just a typical school yard fight that was sensationalized for readers.

His only comfort was that he had been able to assist with the restraining orders against the two Weasley children who had attacked Harry. Maybe the Weasleys would withdraw from the program now. Though with what he had seen he was fairly sure that Mrs. Weasley would send her two children away during the time Harry was to stay with them.

0-O-0

Dumbledore, Molly, Ron and Percy were discussing that very topic in his office that night. "I am sorry but I really don't see another option. Ronald will have to be resorted to avoid violating the restraining order."

"Can't you just over turn it?" Molly asked. This was horrible. How dare those fools slander her family?

"If I tried we would only weaken our position." Dumbledore said tiredly. "As much as I hate to say it I believe Harry has won this round."

Ron looked over the copy of the restraining order. His first instinct had been to storm out and find Harry. But now he saw an opportunity. While he knew he was a true Gryffindor he was making headway in Hufflepuff and did not want to lose his easy access to Harry. "Sir, if I may make a suggestion? Why not just move me to one of the private rooms in Hufflepuff. Like the one the Headboy gets? Then I won't be sharing a dorm with Potter so I won't violate the restraining order."

"That has merit." Dumbledore admitted. After Ron's lack luster performance over the year he was surprised to hear an idea that might work. "But what of classes? The two of you in the same class would violate the order as well."

"I switch to the other class schedule." Ron said simply. "The order takes into account that we'll have to be in the same room sometimes, such as the great hall. The common room would also fall under that."

"Yes that would work." Dumbledore said. Perhaps there was still hope for Ronald to help with his plan after all.

Molly hugged Ron. "My little genius!"

"What about me?" Percy demanded. As far as he was concerned Potter had ruined his life.

"I will officially announce you as my apprentice soon. You will also be entitled to your own room and have authority equal to the Headboy. A position we have already established will be yours when you reach seventh year. And fifty points to Hufflepuff for your wonderful idea." Dumbledore said.

Hathfojd watched as they plotted. He was disappointed that Dumbledore hadn't noticed the points he kept giving them were removed in just a few hours. Well he decided he might as well have some fun.

Molly was in the middle of muddling on about something or other when she stopped and chocked on a horrible smell. "What is that?"

Dumbledore cocked his head and took a deep breath. "Rotten shark fermented in it's own urine."

The other occupants of the room traded unease glances, not sure how to react to the headmaster knowing such an obscure scent. Or the fact that he seemed whole unconcerned about it.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna did indeed have a good laugh as Hathfojd told them everything that had happened. Harry was impressed that Ron had managed to come up with the idea of switching classes and rooms to get around the restraining order, and relieved that he wouldn't have to share a room with the redhead anymore.

Hermione suddenly stopped laughing and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Hagrid just put a dragon's egg in his fireplace."

"A bit late this time around." Harry commented. "I figured we'd changed things enough where that wouldn't happen anymore."

"Guess we just changed the timing. I suppose we should head down tomorrow and get the plan started." Hermione said. This was one of the events they'd prepared for, both to keep Hagrid out of trouble and hopefully avoid any more themselves.

"I hope it hatches before you send it away. I'd love to meet a baby dragon." Luna said.

0-O-0

Dan opened the large envelope Hedwig had just dropped in front of him and began to chuckle. "Come look at this."

Jean walked over and looked at the dozen moving pictures that had been included in the latter. Harry Hermione and Luna were all standing in front of a large hut. A small creature was resting in Luna's arms. "Is that a dragon?"

"Yup says here that the game keeper got ahold of an egg and was taking care of it until the dragon could be sent to some type of reserve. Looks like it hatched and took a liking to her. And Harry."

Dan passed her a picture where the baby dragon was perched on Luna's shoulder and leaning over toward Harry. It's tongue flicked out every few second to lick him. The next showed Hermione playing tug of war with the dragon, who had latched onto some of her hair. Another picture of the three children laughing as they tried to catch the little dragon brought a smile to their faces.

The final photo was of the children standing next to a giant of a man while the baby dragon nested in his beard. While both parents loved the pictures, and story that went along with them, they also knew this wasn't going to make their final decision of whether or not to allow Hermione to return to Hogwarts for her second year any easier.

0-O-0

The nights still had a chill about them, especially at the top of the astronomy tower where Harry and Luna lay. They'd picked a spot protected from the wind and laid down on a conjured blanket to cuddle. Since it was their turn for some alone time Hermione had gone to busy herself with another secret project. Apparently the mirror had only held her and Luna's interest for a week before they'd learned all they could.

Luna snuggled closer to Harry, despite the warming charms she still preferred his warmth to anything else. While it was a common enough for her and Hermione to share a bed they'd both agreed it was just missing something without Harry there as well. As she thought about the boy she was curled up against she couldn't help but give a small laugh.

"Something funny?" Harry asked.

"Just remembering Norberta and how she thinks you are candy." Luna said.

"At least she only licked me and didn't try to crunch her way to the chewy center." Harry said.

"Yes, Hermione and I much prefer you undamaged." Luna said. She relaxed further as Harry absently ran his fingers through her hair. She loved the peace, the feeling of warmth. It was as close to perfect as she could imagine. More than once since they had returned she had been tempted to suggest that they gather those they cared about and just leave. The west coast of America had remained relatively unharmed. Well parts of it.

If they didn't know how bad the war would get she was almost positive she could convince them. But as it was they were the best chance, and the Fae had given them the chance to try again. But that didn't change her desire.

Now though, with the Weasleys acting as co-guardians it looked like their long term plans were truly buggered. There was no chance that they'd agree to let Harry leave the country. It was a shame they couldn't just get rid of Molly, her husband was much more reasonable. But Hathfojd had confirmed that Dumbledore had plans in place should that happen.

Not for the first time she cursed their lack of magical power. Once they performed the ritual they could truly make headway against Voldemort and his death Eaters. But until then they were so limited. So vulnerable. Luna couldn't help the tears that escaped her eyes as she thought about the times she'd almost lost one of them.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked in concern.

Luna clutched his shirt. "I'm scared that something awful will happen to you. I couldn't bear to lose you or Hermione."

Harry rolled over and wrapped her in his arms. "We'll be fine. I promise. The three of us are in this together until the end. Then, no matter what, we'll be together. Besides, I'm confident that if something did happen to me, you and Hermione would find a way to bring me back just to express your displeasure, probably violently."

"We aren't violent." Luna sniffed.

"Remember the time to hit me in your sleep because you dreamed there was a giant rat in the house?" Harry asked.

"I said sorry."

"My arm still hurts you know." Harry said.

"Liar, we went back in time so that never happened to your arm and its fine." Luna said.

"My arm remembers the pain thank you very much." Harry said in a fake huff.

Luna didn't answer; she only tried to burrow herself closer to Harry as they lay on the roof.

0-O-0

Two days later, as they were finishing dinner Professor McGonagall approached them. "The headmaster has decided upon your punishment for removing Fluffy from his chamber. You three will accompany Hagrid with evening while he does his rounds and provide any assistance he needs. You will meet with him in the entrance hall at nine o'clock sharp."

"Yes professor." They chorused. Each making another mental note that despite the change in time they were once again going into the Forbidden Forest. This was not a wholly bad thing as it presented the opportunity for Harry to deal with Voldemort early and away from the school.

In fact they'd already tried to follow him twice when he left only to lose track of him once he was beyond the edge of the map. They'd agreed that if they could catch him in the forest they'd try and force the encounter. They were prevented from doing so within the castle because of witnesses and not knowing exactly what would happen.

Harry had, much to Hermione's annoyance tried to touch Quirrell several times in the hope that he'd combust. Sadly the professor seemed to have become even more paranoid and fled to his locked office when not in class. Their sole attempt to enter his rooms at night had been cut short when they discovered a set of nasty wards that they lacked the power to break.

Hermione had convinced Harry and Luna it wasn't worth the risk of trying and they'd fallen back.

Later that night as they made their way down to meet Hagrid they made one last check of the map, but it appeared that Voldemort was going to be staying in his office. Hagrid smiled when he spotted them. "Right you lot, going to be checking 'round the edge of the woods tonight. Something' been killing unicorns. Doubt we'll find anything but a few extra eyes won't hurt."

They were about to leave when Professor McGonagall arrived with Draco and Pansy in tow. "One moment. I have just caught these two where they should not have been. Since you are already supervising a detention I would like for you to take them along as well."

"Sure thing, two more won't cause a problem. Even got spare lanterns for them." Hagrid said.

Hagrid, plus the five students began the walk down to his cabin where they'd start their round. Luna smiled at Draco and Pansy. "So were you two looking for a good place to snog? Because I have a very comprehensible list if you'd like to borrow it."

The two Slytherins turned beet red. "We were not!"

"Bluebell was leading us all over the castle." Pansy said. She was almost positive her cat just enjoyed causing chaos.

"Oh, alright then." Luna said with fake disappointment.

As they walked Pansy glanced at Luna several times. "Those, eh, snogging spot you mentioned. Have you tried them out?"

"No, sadly I'm still too young for that to be much fun yet. But in a few years I'll be prepared with dozens of suitable locations." Luna said cheerfully. She fully planned to complete the broom cupboard challenge with Harry and Hermione.

"If you don't mind I'd like a look at your list sometime." Pansy managed to get out through her embarrassment.

"Of course." Luna was happy that her 'brother' seemed to being getting along to well with Pansy this early on. It didn't look like they'd have any trouble fulfilling their agreement with the Draco from their own time.

When they got to his hut Hagrid handed them each a lantern and Fang greeted them with several slobbery doggy kisses each, much to Draco's disgust. "Right you lot, we're looking for any sign of an injured unicorn, or whatever is attacking them."

"And what exactly would the signs of an injured unicorn be?" Draco asked with disdain as he used his wand to clean his robes.

"Blood more likely than not. It'll look silver. Or maybe some big claw marks. In fact just shout out if you find anything out 'o place." Hagrid said after a moments thought.

They formed a loose line as they walked along the edge of the forest. Fang trotted happily between them. Hagrid walked next to Harry. "Really need to thank all of you, you were right 'bout Norberta. Better she grow up with her own kind."

"It was nothing." Harry said.

"Wasn't nothing. Made sure I didn't get in trouble with the ministry, arranged for me go an' checkup on her over the summer. Right nice of you." Hagrid said.

"You're our friend, of course we helped." Harry reached up as far as he could and patted Hagrid's arm. It really hadn't been that hard to convince Hagrid to report the egg, then they had spun the story that he'd only won it so he could turn it over to the ministry.

"I found something!" Luna shouted.

Draco squinted into the forest where she was pointing. "What?"

"Blood, over here." Luna led them twenty meters into the forest where there was a splotch of silver blood on a tree. A trail of blood showed where the unicorn had staggered deeper into the forest.

Hagrid stuck his lantern in the ground and pulled out a bolt to load his crossbow. "Right, eyes open. This is fresh so whatever we're looking for could be 'round here."

Harry, Hermione and Luna drew their wands, a moment later Draco and Pansy did the same. They followed the trail between the large trees of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione was the first to make the suggestion of splitting up. "Harry, Luna and I will go with Fang. Draco and Pansy can stay with Hagrid."

"You do know Fang's a coward." Hagrid said.

"Who better to guard our rear than?" Luna asked.

"Right, just be careful." Hagrid warned.

As the groups split Hermione shook her head. "I still can't believe Hagrid would just let us go off on our own like this."

"We should check the map." Luna suggested.

Harry pulled it out; Voldemort was no longer in Quirrell's rooms. He had disappeared from the map. "Looks like he did decide to go hunting tonight. We must have just missed him, so he should be close."

"You have the medallion right Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry pulled it out from underneath his robes. "Of course."

"Good, let's finish this then."

0-O-0

Snape hurried from the castle. Dumbledore had informed him the Potter and his whores would be serving a detention in the forest tonight. The Headmaster had also given him permission to scare them a bit as payment for Black and Cortus withdrawing Potter from his class. As if those idiots could pass potions anyways but it was the principal of the matter.

Well they'd fail for sure; he'd made sure their end of year exam was post OWL level. See how they liked failing, they'd come crawling back.

Until then terrifying them in the forest would have to do. Maybe a pack of wolves could maul one of them? Yes that would work. He wasn't the best at transfiguration but Snape was sure he could manage that. After all they were just a bunch of first years and the oaf Hagrid.

His plan though had already gotten off to a bad start as someone had once again broken into his private storeroom. No matter what wards he used the thief still managed to get past them. He was sure it was somehow Potter's fault.

Now not only had he missed his best chance to follow them but another jar of dung beetle eyes was gone! It was an outrage.

As he hurried from the castle he stopped to search the edge of the woods, there, several lights were disappearing into the forest.

Hedwig watch Snape from her perch above the door. Next to her Trevor scooped out another tongue full of beetle eyes from the jar they had just taken. _"He seeks to harm your family."_

"_Then I will stop him."_ Hedwig replied in the most serious voice she could muster, which was not easy as she found Trevor and his samurai like attitude to be very amusing. As she predicted it was easy to confuse the nasty human on which way Harry and the others had taken. All it took was a few flashes of fire to lead him off their trail.

Snape cursed as he lost sight of the lantern he had been following, where had they gone? He dared not use a lumos in case they noticed, he could just transfigure the wolves now and order them to attack anyone else they found but damn it he wanted to watch!

"**Well look what has wondered into our little patch of the woods brother**." A deep voice drawled out above him. Snape snapped his wand up to find two Acromantula lowering themselves from the trees. The smaller one was a bit larger than he was, the other almost twice that. "… Looks like a little person don' wondered into our habitat."

"**That it does indeed dear Brother. No need to worry little person, thing, we have rejected our family ways and become vegi-o-terrians, friend**." The larger spider said.

"…That mean we don't eat meat…Closest we get are those horsey people… Thems is tasty… But they is a vegetables." The other assured him.

"**Now how do you figure that they are vegetables, Buluks**?"

"…Cause Buggesly, they is furry… Like a coconut." The one identified as Buluks murmured.

"**First off brother, coconuts is not a vegetable, they come from trees don't they? Secondly those horsey people are clearly a type of fast moving fungus**." Buggesly said.

"…What kind of fungus moves that fast?" Buluks asked.

"**The horsey kind. Now shut up before you embarrass us in front of our guest anymore**." Buggesly turned towards Snape. "**I hope my dim brother's assumptions have not left an unfavorable impression of us upon you, friend**."

"Not at all." Snape said carefully. Clearly these creatures had gone insane at some point. "If you don't mind though I must be leaving."

"'**Fraid not, friend. See we don't eat people like the rest of our family but we do get lonely, lacking companionship as we do**."

"…You got pretty hair." Buluks added softly.

"Oh bugger, wait that wasn't an invitation!" Snape shouted as they advanced on him.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna followed the fresh trail of unicorn blood to the same clearing that Harry had the first time. And there crouched over the unicorn's body was Voldemort in his black cloak. "Get away from that Unicorn!"

At Harry's shout Voldemort leapt up to face them. Still cloaked in darkness he glided towards them. Despite their wands they didn't bother to cast a spell. This was their chance to catch him. Harry stood still as Voldemort swooped down towards him; it was not an easy task.

Then just as Voldemort was about to reach him, a cross bolt slammed into the ground and brought Voldemort up short. They spun to find Hagrid, with a frightened Draco and Pansy beside him. "You leave them alone!"

Voldemort leapt towards the second group, straight for Pansy. Draco grabbed her and pushed her to the ground before covering her with his body. He was sure that whatever the black figure was it was about to kill them.

As the figure fell upon them Hagrid's fist shot out and slammed it into a tree. He stepped over the cowering first years. "I told you to leave them alone!"

Voldemort suffered two more giant powered hits against the tree before he managed to flee. Hagrid turned back to Draco and Pansy. "You two alright then?"

Shakily they nodded as he helped them to their feet. Which meant he just lifted them up by their shoulders. "Yes, thank you."

"Well couldn't very well let anything happen to you now could I? 'sides the paper work for that kind of thing is a nightmare. Shouldn't have said that." Hagrid said with a chuckle.

As Hagrid checked on Draco and Pansy, Harry smacked himself in the head. They'd been so close! He couldn't even fault Hagrid as the half giant had thought he was protecting them. Also seeing him punch Voldemort had been an amazing sight.

Luna walked over to the unicorn's body with tears in her eyes. It hurt to see such a wonderful creature killed by a monster. As she stared at it she saw it's chest rise in a shallow breath. "It's alive!"

Harry and Hermione rushed over, followed by Hagrid Draco and Pansy. The unicorn had a deep gash from its shoulder along its side. They'd seen enough injuries in the first time line to know it was made by a cursed blade.

"Draco, Pansy. If you know any healing spells start at that end." Luna snapped. "Harry, Hermione help me here."

Hagrid watched as Pansy and Draco began to cast the basic healing spell at the shallower end of the wound while Luna Harry and Hermione worked on the worst part. He didn't have the heart to tell them that to harm a unicorn in such a way would require dark magic, which would also prevent it from healing. He'd have to put the poor creature out of its misery.

Harry felt the drain on his magic as their healing spells fought the magic in the wound. If they all had their full power they might have been able to do something, but as it was a losing battle with their immature cores. He glanced over and saw that Luna was already starting to sway from the strain.

Suddenly the clearing was lit by a ball of flames and Fawkes appeared. He flew down and landed on Luna's shoulder, his warm song put a bit of strength into their tired bodies. Fawkes leaned over the unicorn and began to cry into the still weeping wound. As the unicorns flesh began to nit back together Harry, Hermione and Luna resumed their spells.

While Phoenix tears could do amazing things even they had their limits. Thankfully they worked best against poisons or Harry wouldn't have survived his second year.

Still they were running low on magic. Pansy and Draco had managed to seal the shallow end but then collapsed against each other. Harry reached over and pressed on either side of the wound, bringing the two pieces of flesh closer together and allowing Luna and Hermione to finish binding it.

It was far from pretty but at least it would keep the unicorn from bleeding to death, if it hadn't already. Harry sat back heavily as Hedwig flew down to him. "Did you get Fawkes?"

"_Yes, I thought you would need to help."_ Hedwig replied.

"Thanks." Harry said tiredly.

The unicorn twitched, its back legs shot out, barely missing Draco. Then it was on its feet, unsteady for a moment. It looked at them, snorted and hobbled back into the forest. Hagrid stared in wonder. "I'll be, ya healed it."

"Does that mean our detention is over now?" Harry asked wearily.

0-O-0

Harry wasn't sure why he was surprised when they exited the forest and found Dumbledore waiting for them. The Headmaster took one look at them, or rather Harry, covered in silver blood and turned as white as a ghost. "Harry, how could you?! All of you, to my office now!"

Too tired to argue they trudged up the numerous stairs to Dumbledore's office. Luna complained that he cheated as he'd make a portkey for himself. Presumably to contact their parents as they were all waiting for them along with the house heads, all except Snape.

Several people gasped as they entered, Harry guessed it was because they'd all ended up with unicorn blood on their robes and looked like they had spent the night running through the forest. Dumbledore sat behind his raised desk with a disapproving frown. "I believe you can all see why I have called you here. It is clear that Mr. Potter has attacked a unicorn, an action of only the darkest wizards."

Molly was ready to rip into Sirius about this being his fault when the most unlikely source came to their rescue. Hagrid stepped forward. "Now wait just a minute Dumbledore. They didn't attack nothing. They saved a unicorn."

"Perhaps we should hear from the people who were actually there?" Suggested Cortus.

"Can we just give a memory?" Harry asked.

"As long as the Headmaster is willing to allow us to borrow his pensieve." Cortus said.

Dumbledore sighed, this wasn't right. He needed more of his potion, he was getting careless. But he couldn't very well refuse. "Very well."

Harry had thought that it would take several trips for everyone to see the memory, as it turned out Dumbledore was able to project a miniaturized version of the memory above the bowl. It was a neat trick. The memory started as Harry, Hermione and Luna came upon the clearing. They watched as the shadowy figure charged towards Harry.

Harry kept an eye on the elder Malfoys. While Narcissa only seemed frightened of it her husband looked like he knew exactly who and what it was. The expression on his face when it turned its attention on his son and Hagrid had punched it was priceless. Narcissa turned and bowed to the large man. "I thank you for protecting my son."

"Weren't nothing. Couldn't very well let one of the students get hurt could I?" Hagrid said in embarrassment. Lucius looked like he wanted to disown her for daring to thank a lesser creature for anything.

The adults watched as the children knelt over the injured unicorn and struggled to heal it. Dumbledore glared at Fawkes when he appeared in the memory but the phoenix ignored him. There were several quiet cheers and gasps as the unicorn stood and limped away.

"Fifty points to each of you, for your spectacular work." Professor Sprout said. She'd have made it a hundred if she thought she could get away with it.

Narcissus drew Draco into a hug. "I'm very proud of you."

Pansy and Luna were receiving similar treatments while Sirius clapped Harry on the back. Xeno promised to relay the news to Hermione's parents the next day.

It was a mostly happy group the finally broke for the evening. The children were all happy, if embarrassed at their parents and professors praise, while the adults were impressed with their actions. Really the only unhappy ones were Dumbledore who was having trouble concentrating on what went wrong, and McGonagall as her house fell further behind in the house cup.

0-O-0

There were still a number of students up in the Hufflepuff common room and Harry was forced to give a quick rundown of that evening before they would let him go shower. Hermione and Luna managed to sneak away before they were mobbed.

In the showers Harry disrobed, he made a mental note to clean the medallion afterwards as well since it, like his robes, was now sporting a good deal of silver blood. Harry dropped it onto his pile of robes and stepped into the warm water.

No one noticed Ron; under a disillusionment charm follow him in. While Harry was busy cleaning himself Ron was checking Harry's robes for anything useful. His eyes quickly fell onto the medallion. While he had no idea what it was or what it did he was sure it was part of Harry's evil plan. Whatever that might be.

Well his future self knew a thing or two about runes, and not much more. Ron transfigured a candy wrapper into a thin sharp pick. Runes were delicate; a little chip could bring down even the most complex rune matrixes. Ron brought the pick down hard on the medallion then squinted at it. Yes one of the runes had been cut straight through. Perfect.

He was disappointed when he had to leave before he had a chance to finish rummaging through Harry's robes but more people were coming and he was sure even a dim Hufflepuff would notice walking into something that wasn't there. Probably.

0-O-0

Snape stumbled out of the forest as the sun rose the next morning. It had been a hard fight but he had managed to escape the blasted spiders and keep his anal dignity, though it had been close. He hobbled towards the castle, a long strand of spider's silk trailing from his left foot.

0-O-0

(A/N: Once again sorry for the delay, but I did have it finished on time, I just happened to be twenty miles south of No Where during my normal posting time. And if you have been there you know there is no internet. As always thank you for reading and thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	32. Burn Baby Burn!

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Two: Burn Baby Burn!

0-O-0

Dumbledore sighed tiredly as he once again looked over the information he had been able to gather on the person calling themselves Ash. But just as every other time he had reviewed it he had found no new clue, no hint as to who Ash was. All Dumbledore knew was that whoever it was had a purple phoenix and knew about the Order. Ash also had reportedly belonged to it at one point but Dumbledore had taken careful measures to insure any Order member who died was confirmed as dead.

Still, there were several possibilities of those who might have been able to escape death but he wasn't ready to believe that yet. Instead he'd started work to spread the information that the phoenix might be purple because it is being forced to serve this Ash against its wishes. Of course so few people knew about Ash that Dumbledore had taken the route of mentioning a phoenix would change color when forced to serve someone unworthy of them.

That would hopefully cause a bit of mistrust the next time Ash appeared to cause him trouble. Merlin knew he had enough to deal with already. Potter was just one problem after another; it had reached the point where Dumbledore had been forced to increase the mental stimulation potion he was taking.

He had almost decided against it, as the potion was known for having undesirable side effects with prolonged use. But over the summer he had decided to make a few adjustments and try it. Thank Merlin that he had, otherwise he would have been completely overwhelmed. It was fortunate that the alteration he had made to the formula before he began took care of the side effects as well. He couldn't afford them at such a pivotal time.

It seemed as if everything kept coming up against him, even Severus wasn't helping. The current agreement allowed Severus to prepare the final exam for Potter, Granger and Lovegood. The plan was to make it hard enough that they'd be willing to reenter the proper class. Severus had taken it too far with OWL and post-OWL questions. Something they could not get away with. Instead Dumbledore had been forced to change it to third year questions and some of the more obscure potions. That would still get the job done without being too obvious about it.

Then there were the summer arrangements for Potter. Dumbledore couldn't decide whether he should make a plan that would see Black's guardianship revoked somehow, just kill off Black and end the headache, or lets things be for the moment. Really he knew that he needed more information, but if the opportunity presented itself he decided to kill Black. Severus would love that.

Absently Dumbledore reached out for a potion vial and took another sip of the mental stimulation potion. He'd take another wit sharpening potion after dinner. Now if he could just get Severus to drop his plans to burn down the Forbidden Forest to cleanse it of its unholy arachnid taint. Whatever that was.

0-O-0

Things among the students had settled down after the article about an injured unicorn being saved by five first years. Of course Draco was made out to have been the one to do most of the work as his father was the one who pushed for the story. Harry had actually been relieved that most of the attention wasn't focused on him this time and gladly let Draco have it.

Ron however had seen several problems with that and spent most of his time complaining that Harry was probably responsible for the unicorn being hurt in the first place or that he should be taking the credit so that it didn't go to a Slytherin.

There were a few in Hufflepuff that agreed with him on the last point but for the most part the house was pleased with their actions. Any number of girls had approached the group at ask about the unicorn, especially those not yet old enough to have covered them in Care of Magical Creatures.

Ron was the least of their concerns though; Quirrell had taken several days off after Hagrid had hit him so it looked more and more likely that they'd have to confront Voldemort the same way as their first time through.

Hermione was also spending a great deal of time working on her own project, but all that she would say to them was that she was working to translate a very complex code. And no amount of begging or bribery would convince her to tell them what she was up to.

Ron was also the most easily dealt with as well. Dobby slipped a plate that they had enchanted to him one night at dinner; the plate had transfigured his chicken into large spiders. Ron panicked and threw the plate across the great hall while he screamed about spiders wanting to eat his brains. What had been a surprise though was Snape attacking the spiders as if they were Harry.

Even once the spiders had returned to pieces of chicken he continued to curse it and laugh until Dumbledore was forced to stun him. No explanation was offered for Snape's behavior as he was removed from the great hall.

Harry Hermione and Luna though found that any time Snape saw a spider the reaction was just as strong, if not stronger, than Ron's. Needless to say over the coming weeks Snape found an incredible number of spiders in his classroom.

0-O-0

The Hufflepuff quidditch team gathered around their captain. A cloud of disappointment hung over them, due to the massive point difference racked up during their last game thanks to Snape's blatant cheating. A complaint to Dumbledore had resulted in absolutely nothing.

"Alright it'll be hard but we still have a chance to win, Harry, You're going to have to force the game to run. If their seeker gets near the snitch make sure they don't get it, we'll focus on making up the points we need to beat Slytherin." Their caption said as he paced in front of them.

"Got it." Harry knew he'd need to draw out the game by hours for them to get the lead they needed. Wood was a good enough keeper to block a majority of Hufflepuffs shots. The Gryffindor chasers would also have to be overcome, really the only reason the plan could work was that their seeker was rubbish. Of course the twins wouldn't be helping them either; this was not going to be an easy game.

Harry was proven correct as Gryffindor took any early lead; their chasers were just as good as when Harry had played with them. Near the hour mark though Harry had an opportunity to break their formation when he positioned himself between Fred and the Gryffindor chasers.

The bludger Fred sent his way barely missed him and clipped the tail of Katie's broom. She lost the quaffle as she struggled to control her rapid decent. Hufflepuff was able to pull ahead and were up 30 points when Harry saw the snitch. The Gryffindor seeker saw it as well and shot off after it.

It was a close race but Harry reached the snitch first and kicked it away. Lee Jordan was speechless for a moment before he realized their plan and promptly shouted for everyone to hear. Harry wasn't sure but he thought after that no one on the Gryffindor team, except for Wood, gave the game a hundred percent.

As the third hour drew to a close Hufflepuff was up by 120 points. The lead continued to grow as the Gryffindor team seemed to lose their motivation and will. Harry continued to assault the snitch every time it appeared until several hours in, as night descended around the castle Hufflepuff had an incredible lead and enough points to overcome Slytherin.

A flash of gold, illuminated by the sun set near the stands saw Harry once again diving towards the snitch. This time however he easily caught it and ended the game. Even Gryffindor cheered for the long game, despite having lost. Slytherin house jeered as they lost their all but guaranteed victory of the quidditch cup.

With no further games for them to play there was no way they could win. It looked like Hufflepuff would take the cup, unless in the final game one of the other teams managed to pull off the same stunt as Hufflepuff had. But with their current scores that looked impossible.

0-O-0

Dumbledore made sure his smile was in place as he approached the Hufflepuff table. "Harry, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. Since the three of you will be taking a separate test for potions from your year mates, and because of the conditions you have insisted upon your exam will be this evening after dinner."

"But we haven't had proper warning to review." Hermione complained. There was no need for them to review but it was fitting with her personality. Besides there was nothing to gain by appearing too eager.

"If you have been studying properly then I am sure you will perform adequately. Also this was the only available time for a proctor from the wizarding examination board to oversee your exam." Dumbledore had arranged for one of the stricter proctors to take care of the exam. Sadly he could not risk outright sabotage with Black and Cortus watching for the results. "Or if you truly feel that you need more time you could rejoin your classmates."

"We'll take the exam this evening." Harry assured the Headmaster.

As it turned out the exam was twice as long as the one first years normally took and it was nearing midnight before they finished. As they stepped out of the great hall Harry, Hermione and Luna came face to face with a sneering Snape. "Out past curfew I see, that will be fifty points apiece from Hufflepuff and a week's detention for all of you."

"I don't suppose it would matter if we pointed out that we have only just finished our potion exam?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"It is no concern of mine if you are incapable of taking a potions exam in a timely manner. Now return to your common room before I double your punishment." Snape said.

They shrugged and continued on. Once they were away from Snape Harry asked. "So, tell Professor Sprout now or in the morning?"

"We can try now; hopefully if she's irritated at being awoken she'll turn it on Snape." Luna said as she took each of their hands and began to skip. "What level do you think that exam really was?"

"Not first year." Harry said.

"Definitely not, I'd need to check our potion books as some of the questions were very obscure, I'd guess maybe fourth year with a few OWL level ones throwing in." Hermione reviewed some of the questions in her head, she was almost positive that half of them had never been on their standard exams the first time through.

"What do you want to bet someone will cry that we cheated when they get the results?" Harry asked. While he knew he did well he estimated his grade would be an EE and not an O.

"If it doesn't fit with Dumbledore's plan then nothing as it is a sure thing." Luna answered cheerfully. "But if they complain we can just take the exam over and over and over again until we've proved it to them."

"Eh, Luna I really don't want to have to take the potion exam a half dozen times." Harry admitted.

"But didn't Hermione promise extra snuggle time with each of us every time we scored better than an acceptable on an exam?" Luna asked.

"I did not." Hermione assured her. "You must have dreamed that."

"I don't know I kind of remember that too." Harry grinned at Hermione.

"Honestly you two." Hermione shook her head in defeat. "I suppose I could make the sacrifice of extra cuddling time with each of you."

"As if you don't love it as well." Luna pointed out.

Harry let go of Lunas hand and spun so he had a girl on each arm. "Hey at least you two have each other at night. I have to make do with a pillow, and between us my pillow is a lousy kisser."

"Poor Harry." Luna leaned over and kissed his cheek. "We'll just have to make it up to you this summer while we fix up the defenses around Potter Manor. Don't forget, turtles first."

"Luna those things were huge, I don't have the magic to do them again yet. You'll just have to wait for your turtle army." Harry put his foot down on the matter.

When they reached Professor Sprout's door it only took her a moment to answer, dressed in sleeping robes. "What's wrong?"

They explained how Snape was waiting for them outside their exam and the punishment he had issued them. Professor Sprout sighed and rubbed her temples. "Return to your dorms, I'll speak with the headmaster in the morning. Or perhaps I'll go right now. See how he likes being woken because of Severus and his actions."

She missed the smiles on her little badgers face's as she grabbed a cloak and headed for the Headmasters office.

0-O-0

Sprout was a bit annoyed that Dumbledore wasn't already asleep as she had been. She was enraged when he refused to overturn Severus's punishment of her students. "I am sorry but that would cause unnecessary strife between Heads of Houses. They did technically break the rules by not having permission to be out after curfew."

"And Severus was just waiting there to ambush them! That is not the behavior fitting a prefect let alone a professor or Head of House!" Sprout couldn't believe that the Headmaster was going this far. There was no reason for it.

"My decision stands." Dumbledore said firmly. Oh for the days when people didn't question him.

"Very well, then as Severus has done so many times before I will be taking them for detention myself." Sprout said just as firmly.

"Now really…"

"No, Severus has taken his own students who I have issued detention to more times than I can count. Or is it only him who can do so?" Sprout challenged.

Dumbledore sighed. He really couldn't get away with letting Severus do something but denying the same actions to another Head of House. Unless he could come up with a good reason, which he didn't seem to be able to do. Oh he was sure there was something he could come up with but any idea he might have had just seemed to slide across his mind and vanish. "Very well. You may inform Severus of taking their detentions tomorrow."

Sprout snorted but nodded and left his office. She'd find something easy for her badgers, maybe letting them study for their upcoming exams.

0-O-0

Hufflepuff was in the middle of a giant celebration. The final quidditch game had been played, the scores tallied and Hufflepuff had won the cup! Both of the remaining teams had tried to mimic Hufflepuffs strategy of running the game long for more points but neither team had the needed skill to get more than a few points ahead of the other, and neither had come close to what they'd need to take first or even second place.

As a result Hufflepuff, for the first time in many years had dominated the scores and taken the cup. The celebration had started in the afternoon and continued on until dinner where their festive mood was shattered.

Dumbledore stood and called for everyone's attention. "It has been brought to my attention that during Hufflepuffs last game there were a number of irregularities. I therefore must regretfully remove all points scored in the game from both teams."

Cries of outrage from three of the houses filled the great hall and drowned out the cheering from the remaining one. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would rather see Hufflepuff win than Slytherin again and were shocked by the blatant favoritism being shown by the Headmaster.

Their complaints, as well as those from the rest of the faculty were ignored by Dumbledore. He had known that they wouldn't be happy. But Severus had made an impassioned plea to him about it. And somewhere in the ranting had mentioned that Slytherin losing the quidditch cup could hinder his ability and position to spy from when Voldemort returned.

Those had been the magic words for Dumbledore, Severus and his work had been invaluable… was that the correct word Dumbledore wondered. Invaluable sounded so much like unviable but that wasn't correct. Beyond value, yes that was it. Severus and his work as a spy had been beyond value in the last war and would be so again in the next.

As the Headmaster pondered his word usage he missed the several dozen students leaving the great hall to write their parents about what happened.

The result was another article by Skeeter on Dumbledore's outrageous actions and his lack of explanation. And a quote by Snape that did nothing to help either of their cases. "So Pampered Prince Potter ran to the Prophet to complain? I am unsurprised. He has shown no skill for anything while at Hogwarts and expects to be handed everything because of his name. I do hope the wizarding world takes a close look at its so called savior."

Dumbledore was surprised when the resulting firestorm from that comment resulted in the school board calling into question Snape's ability and methods of teaching. Lady Longbottom lead the charge to have his contract dropped at the end of the year, it wasn't difficult with public option so firmly behind them. Even Malfoy wasn't willing to help his fellow Death Eater as it could weaken his own position. He had also secretly made plans to hire the soon to be fired Snape for several difficult potions.

Dumbledore's own attempts to help his spy had less success than he would have liked as the school board were very interested in what irregularities he had been talking about that caused the quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor to be declared void. Of course Dumbledore hadn't thought anyone would question him, well no one he had to answer to at any rate, and had no good explanation. He only escaped by saying it was an ongoing matter under investigation.

In the end all he was able to do was stall the investigation by a few days. That would have to be enough time for his potion master to shape up. Well Severus was a master spy and skilled in the mind arts. Surely he could act like a delightful teacher for a few days if he wanted.

0-O-0

Dumbledore had been correct; if Snape had wanted to he could certainly act like a competent instructor. However he did not want to. Snape felt that his actions were justified; that he had earned the right to treat others in such a manner because of his own troubled past.

This made the decision not to renew his contract all the more shocking to him. He had protested that it was not his fault the children knew nothing of the art of brewing. To which Madam Longbottom pointed out that since he was the potions professor it was in fact his responsibility to ensure they did learn to brew therefore it was also his fault if they could not.

Severus refused to accept that answer; he knew who was to blame, Potter and Black. They had done this, it was their fault. He'd take care of both of them over the summer, Dumbledore's plans be damned.

The only bright spot to result from the entire incident was that Dumbledore, in a bid to keep Severus at Hogwarts had finally relented and allowed him the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. The contracted wouldn't be signed though until he had formally been dismissed as the end of the school year. That way no one could interfere with it.

0-O-0

Dumbledore sighed; the latest round of distractions had proven most annoying. He'd been forced to agree to finally let Severus take the DADA position to remain; he had hoped to only allow him to have it once Harry was at a more critical point in his development. Also because he was sure while Snape had managed not to teach potions well his passion for the dark arts would mean the children learned a good deal. Even if they didn't like it.

Then there was Voldemort, he still hadn't made a move on the fake stone. What was taking so long? Well the year was almost over and Dumbledore was sure that Voldemort's host was at his limits. It would be soon or never. Perhaps he needed to make the situation so tempting that Voldemort couldn't resist? He could always announce that he'd be away on a certain night. That might do it.

Really it was the one plan he was sure couldn't go wrong. A year before he would have never said such a thing but since he had begun taking the potions to help his mind he was sure everything was covered. Either Voldemort would get the stone and poison his host, or Harry would intervene and Dumbledore could see how he faired against Voldemort. Win-win.

0-O-0

Thanks to Hathfojd; Harry Hermione and Luna knew the night Dumbledore planned to fake being away and retired early. Only to sneak out and take up a position in an unused classroom nearby Fluffy's room. They kept an eye on the map and saw the Dumbledore was still in his office and Voldemort was making his way towards Fluffy.

They made sure to give him a good head start before they moved to follow. They'd debated just using the Room of Requirements to get to the end of the obstacles but decided there was still a risk of Dumbledore having some type of monitoring up that would inform him that they hadn't passed through the traps. Also if they needed to give the memory for some reason it would be best to do it through the whole things.

That was also why, though it was a risk and they complained a great deal Hedwig and Crookshanks would remain behind unless they were called with a charm Luna set up. They knew if anything went wrong their familiars would tan their hide. But they weren't willing to risk their abilities getting out to Dumbledore yet.

Fluffy was still asleep and Luna recast the charm on the harp to keep it playing for several more hours.

The Devil's Snare was still not in the best shape after having dozens of children fall onto it months before using light, fire and all manner of other spells to deal with it. In fact it did little more than swat them away when they landed.

Luna rubbed her bottom and grumbled as they passed to the room with the flying keys. Someone must have repaired them since the last time as they'd been broken and could barely hover after so many people had captured them. Now they flew quickly around the ceiling. They each grabbed a broom and rose into the air. While Harry went for the key they needed Hermione and Luna covered him, when he caught it they raised two shields to stop the sudden swarm of angry keys.

By the time they landed there was a pile of twisted and broken keys on the floor. They kept the brooms and flew over the chess set. When they had been planning how to deal with the traps it had been Hathfojd who suggested the brooms to bypass the game. All three were embarrassed that they had fallen into the common magical trap of not thinking beyond the obvious solution.

They flew through the room with the now dead troll and into the room with Snape's potions. To their surprise the wall of fire didn't appear. "Do you think nothing happened because we haven't touched the ground?"

"I suppose so, really that's a bit shoddy, I mean this will be the third obstacle that we've managed to get past because of brooms. It hardly makes sense; they could have enchanted them so they couldn't leave the key room." Hermione complained.

"Well Snape was in charge of this one if the potions are anything to go by." Luna commented. "You can hardly expect quality work from him."

"True, well let's keep going." Harry said as they flew into the last room. They landed to find Quirrell standing in front of the mirror.

"P-Potter and his f-friends. So l-lovely that you c-could j-join me." Quirrell said as he turned to them.

"Well I guess you were right Luna, we owe you a dinner." Harry commented offhandedly.

"W-what are you b-babbling about, P-Potter?" Quirrell asked.

"Well you see we each figured it was a different person trying to steal the stone. Luna said it was you, I thought it was Snape…"

"I told you Snape is too pathetic." Luna cut in.

"Right, anyways I said Snape and Hermione had Dumbledore. Winner got treated to dinner by the other two." Harry explained.

"Dumbledore?" Quirrell asked.

"It would have been a wonderful twist." Hermione defended her guess.

"Enough of this." A voice rasped out from the back of Quirrell's head. "Use the boy; I grow tired of this nonsense."

"Potter, perhaps you would care to enlighten me as to how this mirror works?" Quirrell stood up straighter as he lost his stutter.

"Why would I know?" Harry asked. "It's a mirror, you look in it."

"Let me speak to him." Unlike last time there was no argument from Quirrell. The possessed professor just removed him turban and turned around. Voldemort's face was as horrible as Harry remembered.

"See Harry, _that's_ why we tell you not to pick at things." Hermione said as they came face to face with Voldemort.

"Quiet mudblood. Potter, I grow tired of this relic. Tell me how to retrieve the stone." Voldemort demanded.

"Well what are you seeing?" Harry asked innocently.

"A filthy muggle vagrant requesting that I take his grandmother to a healer." Voldemort growled out.

Harry chuckled while Hermione and Luna gave him shocked looks, neither knew what he had done to the mirror while they had it and he had delighted in not telling them. "While that's funny I still don't see why you expect me to know how a magic mirror works if you can't figure it out."

"Do not play with my, Potter. Tell me!" Voldemort shouted.

Harry turned to look at Hermione and Luna. "Why does he think I can work a magic mirror?"

They shrugged. While all three appeared unconcerned they were tense and only waiting for the opportunity to attack. The plan was to get Harry close to Voldemort and see if the same magic as last time would happen again. If not Harry would use a cutting curse. The plan was made easier as Voldemort barely had any magic to work with and would underestimate them.

Voldemort turned until Quirrell faced them again. "Use the boy, he knows…"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Harry asked as he felt himself being pulled towards Quirrell. Whatever the professor had done used no spoken spell, which meant it cost a lot of magic. He actually thought he could fight it off if he wanted, but Harry didn't want to.

As soon as Quirrell seized him Harry's hand shot out to slap the professor. Quirrell blinked in surprise. "Did you just slap me?"

"I was hoping for some awesome magic." Harry admitted with a shrug.

Before Quirrell could respond he began to scream. A fine spider web of cracks appeared on his cheek and spread across his face. As he released Harry and reached up to grab his face it crumbled beneath his fingers. He screamed and collapsed to the floor.

Harry hurried back, his wand raised as a precaution. Not that it looked like Quirrell was in any shape to cast a spell. "Now that's the kind of magic I was hoping for."

Finally he stopped thrashing as a black mist rose from his body. It screamed and surged towards Harry who had to fight off a smile. A foot in front of him there was a silver flash and the spirit was blown back, as was Harry a moment later by a loud explosion.

Hermione and Luna were knocked to the ground as the disoriented soul of Voldemort fled. All it knew was that it had been hurt and needed to escape.

A still dazed Hermione and Luna stumbled towards Harry's prone figure. The front of his robes was stained with blood and smoldering.

0-O-0

Harry hated the hospital wing; he didn't even need to open his eyes to know where he was. He recognized the smell of medical potions, the muted pain over most of his body was a good hint as well. He cracked open an eye, mercifully it was dark. As his eyes adjusted to the weak moonlight from the windows he saw Hermione and Luna, each one a different side of his bed holding one of his hands as they slept.

The strong medical potion smell was coming from his heavily bandaged chest. Well at least breathing wasn't much of a struggle so it hopefully wasn't too bad. He flexed his fingers a few times until Luna began to stir.

Luna groggily raised her head, then shot up when she saw that he was awake. "Harry!"

Hermione was a moment behind her in throwing herself over him, well as much as they could while being careful of his chest.

Before he had a chance to ask what had happened Madam Pomfrey hurried towards his bed. "Miss Granger Miss Lovegood! What are you doing here? I told you to return to your common room when visiting hours ended."

"We told you we weren't going to leave Harry alone so we came back." Luna said with no trace of her normal dreamy tone.

The healer chose to ignore Luna's words and only gave them a disapproving look. "How do you feel Mr. Potter?"

"Been better, feels like a hippogriff kicked my chest." Harry admitted.

"I imagine so. Thankfully you were out through the worst of it. You broke several ribs and had severe burns across your chest. The ribs were easy enough to fix with a bit of skele-grow. Unfortunately there will be scaring from the burns but I will do whatever I am able to minimize that." Madam Pomfrey said as she cast several charms to check his health.

"Now Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. The Headmaster wished to be informed as soon as Mr. Potter awoke, I will also be contacting Professor Sprout to see him and collect you. You have until they arrive to assure yourselves that Mr. Potter will be fine before I once again remove you from the hospital wing."

As soon as Madam Pomfrey stepped away Hermione cast a privacy charm. "How do you really feel?"

"Like I told Madam Pomfrey, I've been better, I've been worse. What happened?" Harry asked.

Hermione and Luna both looked away. "We don't know why but the talisman exploded before Voldemort reached it. It, it was awful Harry. We were about to call Hedwig when Dumbledore rushed in, Crookshanks says he disappeared from the map just before then. He had Fawkes bring you here and you'd been out for three days."

Harry groaned, "How much trouble am I in?"

"With Crookshanks and Hedwig? They've cooled down a bit. I don't know about Dumbledore but he's in a lot of trouble with Sirius and Cortus because we told them we faced off with Voldemort to save the stone." Hermione explained.

"And how trouble am I in with Sirius?"

"I don't know, he's mostly spent his time yelling at Dumbledore."

They stayed quiet for several minutes until Harry broke the silence. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation either but he figured it was best to get it out of the way now while he was still injured and less likely to get yelled at too much. "You know this means we'll have to try the ritual with me…"

Hermione and Luna shot up. "We still don't know how that will affect you."

"We could wait until we get the diary." Luna offered as a compromise.

"We don't know for sure that we'll be able to get it. We can't keep waiting either, we only have two chances a year and if we miss the summer solstice we'll have to wait another six months. We don't know for sure how many he made, we can't afford to wait that long. Nothing we found suggests that it'll hurt me." Harry argued.

"You'd still be taking a big risk." Luna bit her lip in worry, something she had picked up from Hermione.

"I, we have to try. We'll be as careful as we can but…" Harry cut himself off as the hospital wing doors were thrown open and Dumbledore rushed in.

Luna dispelled her privacy charm before he reached them. Dumbledore wore his normal grandfather like smile. "Harry my boy, I am pleased to see that you have awoken."

Before Harry could respond Molly came rushing in and headed straight towards Harry's bed. Thankfully Sirius was right behind her and managed to stop what would surely have been a painful hug for Harry by pointing out his current condition.

Snape, Sprout and McGonagall arrived just after them and joined the growing circle of people around Harry's bed. A look from Dumbledore silenced them. "Yes well now that it appears everyone is here I was hoping you could explain what happened."

Harry described their decent into the obstacle course; he noticed McGonagall seemed put out that they had flown over the chess set. "Then there was a bright flash and poof, here I am."

"Interesting, were you by chance wearing anything magical? A necklace perhaps? Madam Pomfrey retrieved several fragments of something from your wound." Dumbledore asked as he stroked his bread in a cartoonish manner.

"We made him a protection necklace." Hermione volunteered. None of them were about to mention the talisman.

"So this is your fault!" Molly shrieked. "As Harry's guardian I demand they be kept away from him!"

Sirius looked towards Dumbledore. "Try it and I'll bring the entire incident to the authorities."

"I believe Mr. Black is correct." Dumbledore said hastily, there was nothing to be gained at this time by indulging Molly, well except a slightly smaller headache than if he was to try and deal with Sirius. "It is most likely that the protections were overwhelmed and caused the accident. I doubt there was any intentional malice."

Molly looked shocked but Dumbledore cut off the rant he knew was coming. "Since they have been cleared of wrong doing I would suggest that Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood return to their common room. Severus if you would escort them?"

Neither Hermione nor Luna missed the brief flash of joy on the potion masters face. Together they refused. "No, we won't go anywhere with him."

"I'm sorry, what?" Dumbledore asked. Surely two first years hadn't just told him no, it didn't matter that these particular first years never followed his plans; they couldn't have just refused him point blank.

"No sir, we refuse to go anywhere with Snape." Hermione said.

"He attacked Harry when we got back from Christmas and who knows what he'd do to us to get back at him for some perceived wrong." Luna added.

Once again Dumbledore intervened before Severus could start to yell. Perhaps he should put Severus on some calming draught? "I can assure you that you are in no danger with him."

"You assurances don't mean a whole lot." Hermione informed the Headmaster.

"And my father agrees, it's why we no long take his class. Well that and his lack of teaching skills." Luna said firmly.

McGonagall's tirade about disrespect fell on deaf ears, much to her annoyance. Sprout came to their rescue before McGonagall could start to take points. "I'll see them back once we are finished."

Dumbledore wanted to say something about this not being a matter for children but he was sure that was also a lost battle. Harry would just tell them everything later.

Snape though was fuming; dealing with them to hurt Potter had been exactly what he was planning. No matter, he still had time, as Potter gave some useless explanation Snape hid behind his mental shields and imagined the best way to make them suffer. He'd start with Lovegood before the school let out. He didn't want to have to deal with those wards again, then Granger. As a mudblood she'd have no protection over the summer.

Potter would learn the price of defying him.

0-O-0

Hermione and Luna exited the pensive in the Room of Requirements both relieved and worried. They had just finished watching Harry memory of right before they had left to face Voldemort. It was the last time the talisman had been clearly visible. They were relieved that they had not made a mistake that caused it to explode and harm Harry. They were worried because upon examination one of the runes had clearly been vandalized.

The three of them began to work backwards in Harry's memories in an attempt to pinpoint when the change had been made to the talisman. After two hours they knew that it had happened after they had healed the unicorn. The talisman was fine when Harry removed it but had the alteration when he cleaned it after his shower.

Such a short window of time and the location narrowed down the list of suspects. But no one among that list seemed a likely candidate.

It was a frustrated group that sat and surveyed their fellow Hufflepuffs the next morning at breakfast. Using their limited skill in mind magic's they weren't able to learn more than that most people were nervous about their upcoming exams.

While they continue to check people's minds during meals and class they weren't able to find any leads as to who sabotaged the talisman.

0-O-0

Snape had picked his spot carefully. Potter and his bitches would have to pass by it on their way to their herbology exam. He crouched hidden in the shadows of the castle, disillusioned and under a notice-me-not charm for good measure.

There they were, his target was blathering on about that oaf Hagrid's latest article in the embarrassment her father published as that ridiculous card game they sold. Snape trembled with excitement. He waited for them to pass, he would strike from behind and disappear back into the shadows;, they'd never even see him.

He would obliviate the Lovegood bitch, let Potter suffer over her loss, and when Snape was finally ready to toss Potter into the potions pit he'd make sure the braindead girl went first. Being obliviated wouldn't keep her from screaming.

Her mental shields barely registered as a concern, he refused to believe they'd be strong enough to stop him. True they might have normally provided protection he planned to overpower the spell enough that she'd forget everything, every moment of her life gone.

And how Potter would suffer. Snape stepped out and insured there were no other students would see the spell flash. He took a steadying breath and cast the spell; he pushed with all his magic, all his hatred of Potter. Of his jealousy and rage.

Snape was already retreating when the spell hit the back of Luna's head.

0-O-0

"Daddy is sure we'll have to print another run of the cards before the end of the month, the orders have really started pouring in. Fred and George are also doing a wonderful job and have almost sold out of the crate we gave them." Luna said cheerfully as they walked towards their herbology exam.

"I don't think any of us ever doubted their salesmanship." Hermione pointed out.

"True…" Luna stumbled and collapsed to the ground, her vacant eyes stared up at Harry as he caught her. She didn't hear them frantically calling her name or see Hedwig appear and take them to the hospital wing.

0-O-0

"Obliviated?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"Yes, I can't tell how many memories or how much time she has lost until she wakes up. Her mind has retreated into itself." Madam Pomfrey took a shuddering breath; these were the moments she hated. The ones where she couldn't do anything. "Such a reaction would suggest a great deal of damage though. At a guess she'll have lost at least a year."

"I see." Dumbledore frowned but inside he was happy at the news. This could easily remove the girl from Harry's circle, and provide a space for Miss Weasley next year. "I will go and inform her father."

"What of Mr. Potter and Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked hesitantly. Normally she was fine with friends staying but the children were in the middle of their exams. "They have refused to leave her side."

"I will speak with the other professors on the matter and excuse them." Dumbledore mentally patted himself on the back, this would definitely get him some points in his favor.

0-O-0

"Why didn't her charms stop it?" Harry asked quietly. They both recognized the results of the charms Madam Pomfrey used. Luna had had her memory stolen from her and they had no idea how much time she would lose. A few days? Months? Years? Would she even remember them coming back in time? Would she even remember them?

Hermione reached out and touched the protective charms. The runes carved into them had been burned out. "They stopped what they could, the spell must have been strong, it overwhelmed the protections."

"I can't stand the waiting." Harry said. "I'm going to go in a check the damage."

"Not alone you're not." Hermione insisted.

Harry nodded. They each took on of Luna's hands, then intertwined their own on her lap. As many times as they had been in each other's mind's eye contact wasn't needed as long as they had a physical connection.

Luna's outer shields were destroyed. Pieces of still smoldering debris floated aimlessly around the hazy core they had once protected. Harry reached out and touched one of the blackened pieces of Luna's shield, it spun lazily away from them, burnt flakes breaking off. The spell had ripped through them and erased anything in its path. Hermione gasped and covered her moth. Harry pulled her closer for comfort.

They'd seen this before, they'd done it themselves to a dozen Death Eaters, but this was Luna. They descended into the haze that marked the transition between the outer mind and defenses and the mindscape proper.

Where once there had been lush forest little more than ash remained. The ground was blacked and burnt; bits of burning wood still littered the mindscape. Ash and soot clogged the air, it was a hellish landscape. To their left was a forty foot long blackened skeleton.

They made their way through the burned out forest in the direction of Luna's mental version of the Rookery. It hadn't faired any better. The roof had caved in; the stones was blackened and melted. The front door crumbled when Harry touched it. From inside they could see straight up to the gray sky.

A half burned timber had fallen across the room; they climbed over it to a corner near the fireplace. Soot floated up as Harry searched for the trapdoor handle that no one could see. When he found it Hermione helped him pull the trapdoor up.

The basement of the Rookery was in slightly better condition and gave them a slim hope. The stones were still black and the air choked but it hadn't caved in. There was some furniture as well that hadn't been completely destroyed.

Harry and Hermione began to look around carefully. This was as close to a person's core as anyone could get, Harry knew that his own was hidden in a snitch that could move around his mindscape as needed. Hermione's was a book, to no one's surprise.

Luna had picked a method closer to Harry's own and her 'self' was in the form of a fairy. If they found the fairy they'd be able to figure out how bad the damage really was. And learn if there was anything they could do to fix it.

Something moved in the far corner, they approached and found Luna hiding behind a singed chair. But it wasn't the fairy form they had expected; instead it was a young Luna. Perhaps five or six years old, her bright sundress was singed along the edges and she tried to scoot further away when they approached.

"Who are you?" Luna asked in a timid voice. "Where are Mommy and Daddy?"

"We're friends." Hermione said gently and stuck out her hand. "If you come with us we'll take you to your father."

Harry didn't miss the quiver in Hermione's voice. He crouched down and smiled. "I'm Harry and this is Hermione."

Luna crawled out from her hiding place and studied them. "Ok."

Hermione took her hand and they made their way back out of the burned out Rookery. As they stepped out Luna pulled her hand free and began to walk around the remains of her house. She didn't seem particularly stressed. But as it was only a mental representation, as was she, there wasn't much reason to be.

As soon as Luna was out of sight Hermione collapsed against Harry. "Oh Merlin, Harry, she's so young. To be like that…"

"I know, it means the damage went beyond when she learned occlumency. She won't remember us, or the war, or anything." Harry finished in a choked whisper.

"What are we going to do?"

"Whatever we can to help. Even if she doesn't remember us or our mission she's still Luna." Harry said.

"And we promised to never leave her behind." Hermione finished.

They provided what comfort they could to the other until Luna returned. She took one look at them and frowned. The Luna grabbed Hermione's hand and yanked her along. "You're sad, you need to see Harmione."

"Who?" Hermione asked as Luna dragged her towards the loch.

"Harmione." Luna stated firmly.

Harry followed them through the hazy remains of the forest. Their hurried steps kicking up for soot. The loch was dark, the water filled with mud, soot and pieces of burned wood. Luna climbed onto one of the bigger intact logs and looked towards the far end of the loch. She hummed to herself as she looked. "There!"

Along the far shore now stood a unicorn, a blue unicorn. It trotted out onto the water, where its hooves fell ripples rolled out and left clean water. By the time it reached them the furthest edges of the loch were once again clean. The unicorn leaned down to nuzzle Luna, as it did there was a flash and it vanished. Along with the entire loch.

In its place was a dry, deep hole.

"Oh my, that was unpleasant."

Harry and Hermione spun round to find an older Luna holding her head. "Luna?"

"What happened? I remember walking to our herbology exam and a sharp pain but nothing after that." Luna said.

Hermione tackled Luna to the ground in a tight hug; Harry was only a moment behind her. "I swear if you ever scare us like that again…"

Luna returned their needy hug. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how I scared you so I can't say it won't happen again."

"Someone obliviated you." Harry said.

"That would explain the memory reset." Luna said.

"The water?"

"Memory reset. I hid all my memories, or copies of them, in the lake. So if I ever had my mind erased I could get them back. And now…" Luna trailed off as thunder rumbled above and it began to rain. The sudden storm cleared the hazy air and refilled the loch at an impossible rate. "I'm a little surprised Hermione isn't mentioning how this isn't how memories are supposed to work."

"I don't care how they're supposed to work, as long as you're back." Hermione said firmly.

Somehow they remained dry during the downpour. Luna sighed. "As much as I'm enjoying this I probably should 'wake up' and prove that I'm alright. It'll take me weeks to fix this place up again."

"Just remember not to look Dumbledore in the eye until you've fixed it up." Harry reminded her.

0-O-0

Harry and Hermione left Luna's mind several moments before her eyes fluttered open. Hermione immediately had her in another hug; Harry excused himself to tell Madam Pomfrey that Luna was awake. Something that wasn't needed as the healer appeared a moment later. To her surprise Luna didn't appear to have any memory loss, though the charms still showed that she had been hit with an obliviate.

She was at a loss to explain it and was on her way to inform Dumbledore when Xeno rushed in. He was also shocked to find his daughter awake and apparently unharmed. Dumbledore had made it sound as if she was all but brain dead.

Xeno wrapped Luna in a hug that rivaled Hermione's own.

Dumbledore arrived shortly after and was unable to completely hide his irritation that Luna suffered no ill effects. Several plans he had begun were scrapped as Miss Lovegood was not, as he believed, incapacitated.

After Dumbledore left Luna enjoyed the visit with her father, until he mentioned not allowing her to return for second year. A quick glance between the three first years had Harry erecting privacy charms around her bed.

Xeno was surprised to see the charms Harry used, they were far too complex for a first year, even if they weren't very magic intensive. When Luna began to speak of knowing the future, well he was torn on if he should believe her or not. On the surface it sounded like a crazy idea to keep her and Hermione at Hogwarts.

But it was so detailed, and he was unable to pick out anything that discounted the idea at all. Even Santa sending them back was plausible if he existed and was a fairy of some type.

"Please Daddy, don't mention what happened to me to the Grangers. Hermione is going to tell them about this over the summer." Luna pleaded.

Xeno sighed as he watched his daughter. "This is difficult to believe."

"Sir." Harry cut in. "Over the summer we can take you to Potter Manor, if we can find a pensieve we can show you some of our memories. If not, well I do have a giant basilisk in the basement to help prove our story."

"I sincerely hope you mean the actual creature and not the book." Xeno said.

"What book?" Harry asked. He noticed Hermione had gone beat red. "Hermione?"

"There is a popular series of erotic books all called 'Basilisk in the something' Basilisk in the basement, basilisk in the garden, Basilisk in the stadium." Hermione explained.

"You're far too young to know that." Xeno commented.

"Well I do have the memories of a grown woman and…"

"I don't want to know." Xeno cut her off hurriedly. "I'll take your word for the moment. After we have this sorted out I'll decide what to do about further education."

Luna jumped up and hugged Xeno. "Thank you!"

He returned the hug as he considered the implications of their story being true. If it was, well he would need to make preparations for their protection.

0-O-0

"I'm going to kill him." Hermione said as they left the pensieve. Her tone was a cold statement of fact. They'd reviewed their memory of just before Luna was attacked, and when Luna had the idea to combine the memories, layering them over each other they were able to see patches of Snape in his hiding spot. It wasn't much but enough to identify him.

"I already have a plan to get rid of him, but after that he needs to suffer." Harry said. He'd figured out what he considered to be a good plan, but it would be too quick.

"I have an idea; I'll need to borrow Hedwig though." Hermione said. "And Luna's help with a potion."

0-O-0

It was the day before they returned home for the summer, and just two days before the ritual that would hopefully help them find one of Voldemort's horcruxes, when Hedwig returned with a package for Hermione. Harry caught sight of the word Gympie before Hermione stuffed it into her bag.

Luna kept a careful watch as the owls delivered the mail, her eyes alight with mischief. Harry gave her a quizzical look. Luna just smiled. "I sent Snape a howler, nothing that would lead back to us or tip him off for our plan. But I wanted a bit more revenge and thought this would work nicely."

Just then a large vulture with Snape's oily hair flew in and drew everyone's attention. It flew over the head table and dropped the howler before it turned and left. Before Snape could do anything the howler exploded.

"**SEVERUS SNAPE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A COWARDLY DEATH EATER WHO KILLED MY FAMILY! YOU MAY HAVE ESCAPED JSUTICE BY SELLING OUT YOUR MASTER TO DUMBLEDORE BUT WE REMEMBER!"** The howler exploded in a large fireball. Which Snape was unfortunately to close to as it ignited his hair.

Had Dumbledore been there he might have handled the matter differently, but as Flitwick was closest to the now burning man he did the simple thing and summoned water to put him out. And everyone in the great hall learned why throwing water onto an oil fire was bad.

As the water his Snape's burning hair it flash boiled and a pillar of flames reached up to the Slytherin banner setting it ablaze as well. Burning pieces of fabric began to fall on the head table as the professors rushed to contain the fire before it spread any further.

By the time Dumbledore arrived, alerted by the wards Snape was under a several charms to keep him from moving as he was rushed to the hospital wing. Most of his head was burned, his hair was gone and his nose had been severely scorched.

The students were quickly dismissed and ordered to leave the great hall while the matter was investigated. Once they were alone on the grounds Luna gave a shy smile. "I think I added to much gunpowder to that one."

"Or not enough." Harry suggested.

0-O-0

(A/N: Well life conspired to prevent the last update so I combined it with this one for a double chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Next time, the long awaited end to Snape. As always thank you for reading and thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	33. The Incredible Naked Ghost!

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Two: The Incredible Naked Ghost!

0-O-0

The leaving feast saw almost every student excitedly chatting as they sat at their house tables. The feast happened as Harry and Hermione remembered it, except for the house points. That morning Hufflepuff had been 560 points ahead of Slytherin. As they sat down that lead had been reduced to 45 points. They knew if it had been something that Dumbledore had done Hathfojd would have set it right already so they guessed that Snape had been busy since he was released from the hospital wing that morning.

To most of the schools disappointment he had escaped with only a few scars on his nose. Even his hair had been regrown and was once again greasy and limp.

The great hall was decorated in Hufflepuffs colors. The excitement of their house could barely be contained. For the first time in most of the students memories Slytherin had lost the house cup. That excitement lasted until Dumbledore stood and called for their attention. "Greetings everyone. I know we are all in a hurry to get to our wonderful meal but I find that there are some last minute points to award. To Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle I award fifty points for a game of chess unlike any Hogwarts has seen before."

There was no doubt among the students that neither Crabbe nor Goyle could play chess, though that might have been why the game was unlike any the school had seen before. Three of the houses rose in protest but Dumbledore ignored them. "Which, I believe means we need a change in decorations!"

With a wave of his wand the Hufflepuff banners became those of Slytherin house, and fell from the ceiling. There were shocked gasps as the banners pooled on the floor. Dumbledore frowned and waved his wand again. The banners returned to the ceiling, but instead of the Slytherin house crest they now showed a limp snake.

Another wave of Dumbledore's wand changed the image to one of a cartoonish Dumbledore carrying a limp snake and jumping over a badger. Dumbledore grew angrier as another attempt to set the banners right resulted in a cartoon Dumbledore nursing a sick snake with a badger locked in a small cage. A sign over the cage clearly read 'No No Box' in crude letters.

He finally lost his temper as the next scene was a cartoon Dumbledore sharing a milkshake with a cartoon Snape while riding a large snake. The pink heart shaped glitter that began to fall from the ceiling did nothing to improve his mood. The students though were greatly entertained; several had fallen from their seats as the scene changed again to show Dumbledore and Snape doing the tango.

It appeared the only reason Snape had yet to voice a complaint was that someone at the head table had placed him in a body bind. Dumbledore finally gave up and vanished the banners completely. "It seems someone has decided to play a prank upon us, though I feel I must point out that their prank went beyond the bounds of good taste and has ruined the celebration of Slytherin once again winning the house cup."

The reminder that Slytherin had won sobered the students. The rest of the feast was a sorrowful affair for all the houses but Slytherin.

0-O-0

Harry sat on the Hogwarts Express between Luna and Hermione. They were still recovering from the large party Hufflepuff had held the night before for several students who had birthdays over the summer, himself included. There had been so much cake even Luna had found her limit. Though had it been pudding he was sure she could have gone further. And had during the final meeting of the cooking club where Harry relented and they made pudding.

He had an arm around each girl as they chatted with Neville. Hedwig sat dozing on the luggage rack as she had decided the trip back to London was to long for Harry to stay out of trouble. Crookshanks sat on the floor talking with Trevor about different hunting methods. Since Neville preformed the bonding ritual with him Trevor had increased in size to that of a small dog. Neville now complained that he was too difficult to carry around. Though Trevor seemed perfectly happy to move about under his own power.

Several students popped in to visit them for a few minutes but Tonks stayed long enough to tell them another story of when Harry was a baby, she had spent the year entertaining Hufflepuff house and even written her mother to see if she remembered any that Tonks didn't know about.

"I was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of crisps with little Harry next to me, well I was tired right so I ended up taking a bit of a nap. When I woke up Harry and the bowl were gone and my first thought was that he'd fallen into the bowl and got tossed! The bowl wasn't even that big but I was running around trying to tell the adults that Harry had fallen into the bowl. Turns out his mum just put him down for his nap." Tonks said as she wiped away a tear.

"I can't believe you thought Harry drowned in a bowl of crisps!"

"Hey I was still just a kid! And he was such a tiny thing." Tonks defended herself between laughs.

Once everyone had calmed down Tonks left to go meet with her friends. She promised Harry that she would see him again before she started her training to be an auror. As Tonks left their compartment she didn't notice Nott peeking out from his own compartment at the other end of the car.

Nott was not happy, he'd made a dozen plans over the last few months but each of them had come to not. Something was always missing; someone was in the wrong place. He'd been overjoyed when he learned Lovegood had her memory erased; only to find out it was just a rumor.

Now the school year was over and he hadn't made his big play. The summer wasn't looking to be any better as his father had planned a great deal of 'education' because of his embarrassment just before he started Hogwarts.

Perhaps, if his father was pleased with his improvement he could manage to prepare something special to welcome Potter back to Hogwarts.

0-O-0

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross station Crookshanks took it upon himself to awaken the children who had dozed off during the journey. In his own, slightly annoying way. Neville was spared his methods as Trevor woke him with a flick of his tongue across his nose.

They said their goodbyes and disembarked. Dobby had already collected their things so they only had their fake trunks to deal with. Hedwig took Crookshanks on ahead. Xeno and Sirius were waiting for them on the platform. They had already made arrangements for Hermione to stay over with Luna for the evening before the Grangers came by tomorrow.

After talking it over they had decided to tell Xeno and Sirius about their time traveling that evening and the Granger tomorrow in the hope that the two magical adults would be able to help ease the Grangers into the news.

From the platform they had traveled to the apartment that Sirius had rented and was currently staying in. No one had been surprised when Hedwig was already waiting for them. What did surprise the adults was when Hedwig settled on Xeno's shoulder and they disappeared, a moment later Sirius was subjected to the same disorienting experience.

And found himself on a grassy lawn in front of a large wooden structure. Forest surrounded them except to the north were there was a large loch. Harry Hermione and Luna joined them a moment later all grinning like loons. It took Sirius another moment to realize that they had all apparated. "What's going on?"

"An explanation. Come on in. It's time for you to learn about that big prank I mentioned." Harry led the group into Potter Manor.

That explanation stretched long into the evening as they explained what had happened in their old timeline, how Voldemort had escalated the war into a global conflict neither side could win. How they had hid in 12 Grimmauld until the destruction of London then fled to Potter Manor, which it turned out Sirius had been to before but thought it was just a summer retreat. They finished with their unlikely meeting with Santa and coming back in time, and the changes that had occurred.

There was silence as the group finished explaining thing to Xeno and Sirius. That silence lasted until Sirius burst out laughing. "You're right, that is the best prank ever!"

It had taken some time as they told their story for Sirius to accept that it was real. But they had known things that only Sirius could have told them, and he was sure he hadn't. Hedwig demonstrating how she could appear as a purple phoenix didn't hurt either. All together it was enough to convince him that they were telling the truth. It was too much work to put into a prank for too little pay out.

Things took a down turn when they fully explained everything that had happened that year. Xeno would be the first to admit that he was glad for what happened to those girls who attack his daughter and Hermione. And while it was a bit disorienting to see children discussing such things he was more accepting of it than a muggle might be. Simply because of the differences having magic made.

While few knew of them Xeno did know about time turners, he also knew fairies had strange magic and was perfectly willing to accept that they could have sent the children back in time. There was also the fact that they had mentioned quantum quartz, a closely guarded secret of time turners that he had only heard hinted at before. There was no conceivable way for three first years to know about it.

When they reached the part about Snape trying to erase her memories Xeno was half way to the door before they stopped him. When they told him their plan for Snape Xeno immediately volunteered to take their place. He didn't want any of the children to have to go through what they were planning.

Luna managed to talk her father out of it though the conversation led to a very long group hug around their youngest member. When things had once more settled Sirius decided to try and lighten the mood. "So I take it you didn't want me to sell my families old house because you have a plan for it?"

"I was thinking of buying it as our London home." Harry admitted. "We spent a long time hiding out there, and while I know you hated it we have some wonderful memories of the place."

When both Hermione and Luna blushed Sirius put things together. "Wait all three of you were together so that means… ew. Wait did you do it on my bed? Dang now I need to go burn it!"

"We haven't done anything yet!" Hermione snapped at him. "And we won't until we are prepared for the ritual that will hopefully increase our magical power enough to put up a better fight."

0-O-0

That evening after the children had gone to bed Sirius and Xeno sat by the fire, each with a glass of firewhisky in their hand. Sirius drained his glass and poured another. "That was some story they told us."

"Indeed, but I didn't see any of the signs of lying that I've come to look for, no contradictions in their story. They certainly believe it." Xeno swirled his glass but didn't drink.

"Well can you think of another explanation for Slytherin?" Sirius asked.

"None." Xeno admitted. Seeing the giant basilisk that was now living in the basement was the best proof he had seen that it was all real. After Harry had introduced them he had begun laughing. Only afterwards did he tell them that Slytherin was pleased to have guests but if he had known they were coming he would have shed his skin to look his best.

Laughing with a thousand year old basilisk. That was something Xeno had never even thought of happening.

0-O-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna spent most of the next day preparing for the ritual that would hopefully lead them to one of Voldemort's Horcrux. Luna and Hermione had triple checked each step to insure that it would not harm Harry in some way, as well as to adjust for multiple people.

Luna positioned Harry in the middle of the circle they had drawn out in the manor's basement. Runes stretched across the floor on all sides. They each moved to stand next to him. Luna checked the book one last time. "If we've done this correct than once we start we should appear as some type of magical projection that will be able to follow the link between the items we use, in this case Harry's scar and the other parts."

Hermione swatted Harry's hand away from his scar; they'd had to place several runes around his forehead to make sure the ritual recognized the piece of Voldemort inside of it as the thing they wanted to locate.

Hedwig and Crookshanks stood nearby, ready to guard their bodies while their attention was elsewhere. Even Slytherin had come to watch with interest, anything that got rid of the dark speaker was something he'd gladly help with.

Xeno and Sirius had also offered to help, though Sirius wasn't happy with his task. While Xeno helped watch over them Sirius was to start moving back into his family's home. He'd only agreed when they assured him that they could remove the picture of his mother. Which he had had the misfortune of meeting back when he reset the houses wards.

Xeno watched as they began the ritual, as they finished speaking their bodies collapsed. Only the monitoring charm he had set up let him know they were alright.

Harry thought the ritual was like being smacked in the head. One moment he was in the circle, then _Smack_, and he was floating a couple of feet above his body. The magical projection seemed to be an exact duplicate of his body only white and translucent, as well as naked. A gasp caused Harry to spin around where he found Hermione and Luna in similar states. Luna floated cross legged in the air and giggled as Harry and Hermione tried to cover themselves with their translucent hands.

"Well this is awkward." Harry mumbled. Now he was particularly glad that no one else could see their projections. It would have been far worse if Luna's father could, though he was solely focused on their bodies.

"It can be awkward later; we only have some much time before the ritual ends." Luna pointed out.

Harry and Hermione nodded, each doing their best not to look at the other. Though both trying to sneak glances as well, Luna giggled again at their actions.

A black chain rose from the scar on Harry's head and disappeared into the ceiling. "Alright, so we just grab on right?"

"Yes, it shouldn't do anything until we all take hold though." Hermione said. One of the limitations of the ritual was that it could only be used twice a year; the other was that when multiple people used it they all had to remain together.

As soon as the third hand touched the chain they were yanked through the ceiling. Harry could only describe the sensation as trying to apparate while using a portkey, thoroughly unpleasant.

When the sensation suddenly stopped they were several hundred feet in the air over a think patch of woods. Harry could see a road nearby and fields beyond that. The black chain joined up with several others and formed a thick knot.

Hermione examined the knot of chains. "Alright, we've already learned something important. There are currently seven pieces of Riddle out there. This chain goes to Harry, and this thicker one probably leads to the main part of Riddle's soul. So that leaves five others."

Luna looked back the way they had come, where the chain from Harry disappeared into the sky. "So two towards London, not sure where this one goes. I'm pretty sure Malfoy Manor is in that direction so that would be the diary. And this one that heads north."

"Might as well take that one." Harry said as they grabbed the chain. When the unpleasant sensation stopped they found themselves floating outside of Hogwarts.

"Riddle hid one here?" Hermione gasped, they must have been close to it at some point their first time around. They had been just about everywhere in the castle.

"Apparently, let's go find it shall we?" Luna continued to follow the chain and ghosted through the wall where it disappeared.

Harry followed the girls through the wall and down a hallway. As the floated along he absently wondered why the chain sometimes seemed to follow halls and at other just passed through walls. It would have made more sense to him if it went straight to their target. Hermione and Luna had just passed through another wall when someone called out and stopped Harry. "Mr. Potter!"

Nearly headless nick floated into view. "Mr. Potter, you have died?"

"You can see me?" Harry moved to cover himself.

"All spirits can see all other spirits. How did you die, and why are you naked?" Nick asked with a tilt of his wobbling head.

"Eh, lorry ran me over outside the Leaky Cauldron. I was naked at the time." Harry said lamely.

"I must inform the Headmaster at once!" Nick floated through the floor.

Harry hurried along the chain to find Hermione and Luna; they needed to get back right away. The chain ended in front of the Room of Requirements. Luna and Hermione were examining where it ended as the last link seemed to flicker about randomly.

"He hid one in there? We were so close to it." Harry shook his head. "We need to get back; Nearly Headless Nick saw me and went to tell Dumbledore I'm dead. I told him I got run over by a lorry outside the Leaky Cauldron while naked."

Hermione sighed and rubbed her head. "You are not allowed out of our sight again."

They each grabbed onto the chain and were whisked away, back to their bodies.

0-O-0

Hathfojd was considering releasing another random smell to irritate Dumbledore when Nearly Headless Nick came rushing in. "Headmaster! Harry Potter is dead!"

"What? Are you sure?" Dumbledore jumped up from his desk and rushed to the instruments that were still monitoring Harry. Hathfojd almost snickered; Dobby had taken care of the last of them weeks ago. Dumbledore paled as he saw that none of them were still operating.

"Yes sir, I encountered his spirit on the seventh floor, he said he had been run over by a lorry outside the Leaky Cauldron, he was also naked." Nick said. This was the most excitement that he had had in decades!

Dumbledore rushed to the floo and was about to call the Ministry when he stopped. He needed to speak with Sirius; damn it all Black had as good as signed their death warrants. Well he'd make sure everyone knew who was responsible for this; Black would be back in Azkaban by the end of the day. He threw the hand full of floo powder he had into the fire. "Cornelius! Most horrible news! Harry Potter is dead. I need you to gather the aurors and come with me to find Black."

0-O-0

Sirius took one last look around his flat. He'd packed everything and had it ready to move back to his childhood home. He'd complained about going back there, but the kids had made a good point that it's wards were top notch and they offered to help he redecorate. Personally he liked Luna's suggestion of using fire. Still as soon as he could he'd give it to Harry as a gift. If they wanted it they were welcome to it, he'd go find a nice beach house somewhere.

Wait did he own a beach house? He couldn't remember having ever been to one but it seemed like the kind of thing his family would own just to say they did. He'd have to look into that. It would also have been nice to live at Potter Manor but for now they wanted to keep it hidden.

The front door blew in as Dumbledore stepped over the splitters. Sirius dove behind the trunk he had been packing and drew his wand. "What the bloody hell?"

Fudge followed behind Dumbledore, after allowing several aurors to go first. "Sirius Black you are under arrest for the murder of Harry Potter."

"What happened to Harry?" Sirius asked without coming out from behind the trunk. Not that it would be much good as cover with the number of wands pointed at him.

"Harry is dead and it is your fault." Dumbledore said just as the fire flared green and Harry stepped out followed by Hermione and Luna. Her father came through a moment later.

Harry looked around at everyone. "What's going on?"

"Harry my boy! You're alive! Don't worry everything will be fine, we'll see you safely to the Weasleys." Dumbledore could hardly believe it, his plans were saved!

"Would someone please explain what's going on?" Harry asked.

"Yes Albus, you said Potter was dead." Fudge said, suddenly this entire endeavor was going south.

"Dead? I've been at Luna's." Harry said with Xeno nodding his agreement.

"Can we put the wands away?" Sirius asked. "And can someone then explain why you thought Harry was dead and I was reasonable?"

"Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington informed me that he had seen Mr. Potters naked ghost on the seventh floor and that Mr. Potter had told him that he died by lorry outside the Leaky Cauldron." Dumbledore answered.

Hermione sighed and gave a disappointed look that actually had some of the aurors feeling silly. "Let me see if I understand this. Apparently Harry died in an accident outside the Leaky Cauldron, while _naked_, and the Headmaster somehow decided the blame for this fell to Sirius. Did anyone actually both to go check on where Harry supposedly died? Or did you all just rush over here to try and arrest an innocent man again? And why would you have believed a ghost with such an outrageous story in the first place?"

"Miss Granger we were acting to protect Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said.

"You stormed my house without any proof, and the person I supposedly murdered is right there." Sirius pointed out.

Fudge hurriedly waved the aurors back. "Yes well it seems my information was bad, sorry about that. As you were."

As they left Dumbledore turned to Sirius. "Surely you must see now that Harry needs to be kept safe at the Weasleys."

"All I can see is that you've gone around the bend. Get out!" Sirius ordered. "And fix that door!"

"I can see you will not see reason. Good Day." Dumbledore walked back out the destroyed door and apparated away.

Sirius turned to face Harry. "Naked and a lorry?"

"First off I didn't know ghosts could see us, and I panicked." Harry decided to ignore the comments about his lack of clothing while their projections were following the chain. "You should probably go file a report with Madam Bones about this. At least get them to pay for your door."

"I'm sure Rita would like another story as well." Luna said innocently.

0-O-0

Madam Bones rubber her head. Fudge couldn't help but cause a mess, but this was so far beyond reason. Any first year would have at least sent someone to check on Harry Potter's supposed death. The story alone should have sent up red flags, a ghost saw a naked ghost of Harry Potter. What the bloody hell had Dumbledore been thinking?

It didn't matter, they wanted to waste time they'd face the consequences. She grabbed a stack of forms and began filling them out.

0-O-0

That evening the Grangers were brought to Potter Manor and told nearly everything. Of course at first they didn't believe them, they thought their daughter and her friends were pulling a prank on them. But piece by piece they were presented with their proof and piece by piece they came to accept it. Slytherin once again went a long way in validating their story.

The kids had spent many hours deciding how to tell the Grangers about their trip back in time, they had expected several arguments. Instead, while shocked the Grangers seemed to accept it. Though they did keep some things hidden from them.

Santa smiled as he left Potter Manor; any little bit he could do to help.

The final thing they discussed was a method to protect the Grangers minds. Their chosen method was a rune array painted onto their backs that would act as mental shields. The down side was that they only worked for muggles. The military had made extinctive use of them.

0-O-0

The headline the next morning proclaimed **FUDGE FUMBLES AGAIN!** The story bit into Fudge for believing such an outlandish story and not sending anyone to check on Harry's supposed death. His second failed attempt to arrest Sirius with no proof and pulling half a dozen aurors from their jobs. Dumbledore also suffered, his mental capabilities being called into questions. As Rita said he was either delusional for believing such a story, or an idiot for thinking anyone else would.

They were having a good laugh over what Dumbledore's response would be when Dobby popped in. "Nasty dead man is signing his contract."

They had made arrangements with Hathfojd to send word when Snape signed the Defense Professor contract. Harry stood. "Thank you Dobby, you two ready to get rid of Snape?"

"More than ready." Luna replied. Hermione went to retrieve the bag she had prepared with her and Lunas surprise. They told Sirius that they were going out for a bit and apparated near Snape's home. They'd managed to sneak away a few days before Hogwarts ended and checked the wards Snape had, they were nasty but not overly difficult. And they had confirmed that he had the owl hole in them. Hedwig moved them just over the ward line.

Not having been able to find out much about inside they weren't willing to risk blindly entering, not with what they suspected Snape to have. It only took a few minutes for them to bypass his locking charms without triggering the alert and sneak in. Wards had developed a good deal during the war and the simple wards Snape had were not difficult. It would have taken considerably longer if he had bothered to upgrade them to what he was using at Hogwarts.

They entered and confirmed that Snape wasn't home yet. A quick search revealed that the basement, where Snape probably had his potions lab, was secured under a blood lock with several illegal curses tied to it. That would make it trickier. They moved around under Harry's invisibility cloak and waited.

It wasn't long before the fire flared green and Snape was hit with three curses as he stepped out. A body bind, a stupefy and one that turned his robes into a tight cocoon. Sure that he was out for the count Harry stepped out from under the invisibility cloak. Harry pulled out one of the potions they had made and took it. The simple aging potion allowed him to appear as a passable imposter of his father, with a charm to hide his eye color.

Sirius had suggested that James would keep Snape off guard worse than Harry. Hermione and Luna remained under the cloak as backup.

Harry cast another dozen charms to make sure Snape wasn't going anywhere, no portkeys or hidden wands, potions or knives. Ropes joined his robes binding the man. Only then did Harry awaken him. Snape gasped and struggled to move away. "Potter…"

Snape's face was paler than usual, Harry thought it was the first time he had seen the man genuinely frightened. "It's been awhile Snivellus. I bet you thought you'd gotten away with it huh? Betraying us, the attacks on Harry and his friends?"

"Let me go!" Snape's fright turned to rage. "I'll strangle you with my bare hands! Your bastard!"

Harry just chuckled. "No, you will suffer and die. A certain muggle born girl you know has come up with a nice little punishment before you die. But we'll get to that later. First let's go down into the basement shall we?"

"Like hell! You'll die for this!" Snape might have continued shouting but Harry placed a silencing charm on him.

A slight motion of his hand was the single for Hermione and Luna to use the marionette charm. The charm gave a person control over another, but their movements were jerky, like a marionette and it had lost favor with better spells such as the Imperius. It took both of them to get Snape standing and move him to the basement door.

Harry stood well back; if they had missed something then Snape might be on the receiving end of his own curses. Hopefully he'd survive long enough to suffer for what he had done.

Snape did not show it but he was terrified, James Potter couldn't be back but there he was. It had to be some type of trick but he couldn't figure it out at the moment. Then his body had begun moving on its own and against his will. He walked to the basement door and stuck out his hand to cut it and place the blood on the lock. When the door opened he felt his body move down the stairs, he tried to shout a warning but he couldn't make a sound. The blade sliced through his left leg and severed it just below the knee.

He toppled to the floor. Harry was very glad they had sent him through first. Several spells insured there were no other traps waiting for them. Harry rolled Snape over and cast a charm to keep him from bleeding out. "So sorry about that."

Snape weakly tried to kick out with his good leg. Harry stunned him so Hermione and Luna could remove his cloak and help him search the basement. Along one wall were empty cages, none of them wanted to think about what he might have kept in them. There were a number of potion ingredients but none of them trusted Snape enough to bother taking any. Books and scrolls were carefully packed though, along with other valuables.

Once they were done gathering the things they would take Hermione and Luna began setting up the potions accident that would ultimately claim Snape's life.

With the potion work complete they set a delay charm that would end in several hours or if Snape somehow got to the stairs. Finished Hermione and Luna put the cloak back on. Harry took the potion they had made and once again woke Snape. "See this? It's a little gift for all those you've hurt. You know I've never been the best at potions but I'm told the base of this potion is venom from the Gympie-Gympie tree. I have been assured it is very painful, supposedly just shy of exposure to the Cruciatus curse, but in some ways worse and it will just keep going. I'm sure you'll let me know when you get to the other side."

Harry made sure he was wearing the special dragon hide gloves before he uncorked the bottle and poured it over Snape. It would soak through his cloths quick enough but when it touched the exposed skin on his neck and face Snape managed to let out a strangled grunt.

"Hurts? Don't worry it'll only last a few hours." Harry said, he could already see Snape's exposed skin starting to blister. He took the time to attempt to enter Snape's mind, but as they had expected the pain was blanketing all thoughts and Harry didn't have the power to push past it and search for memories. Whatever knowledge he had they had already guessed would be beyond their reach and was deemed an acceptable loss.

They left Snape to suffer and departed from his house. Harry, Hermione and Luna returned to Potter Manor when the day caught up to them and they all passed out, curled together on the bed.

0-O-0

Snape did not know how long he had been tortured, with the Cruciatus curse it was over quick or you went insane. But this potion, it was almost as painful, but not enough to let insanity take him. Truly it was a masterful method.

At some point the charms holding him failed and he withered in agony. He had no idea how long it had been but his rage finally over powered the pain enough for Snape to crawl to one of his potions tables where a wand was hidden in the false leg.

Wand in hand he managed a numbing charm, which barely did any good. He needed help, he couldn't even make it to the potion cabinet to try and begin fixing himself. After near countless attempts he finally managed a patronus. "To Dumbledore…. Help… James Potter…. Has returned…"

His glowing doe shot into the ceiling. Snape thrashed as a fresh wave of pain assaulted him. He rolled across the floor and ended up near the stairs, he reached out to try and steady himself when the charm used on the boiling potion gave away.

0-O-0

The explosion would have been enough to level at least a block of houses, thankfully for the few people who still lived in Spinner's End Snape's wards contained the worst of the potion fueled fire. Though in moments there was nothing left in the inferno.

When the first responders arrived to attempt and deal with the fire, which had now melted the wardstone and begun to spread, complained of the fumes the area was evacuated. They were putting on protective equipment when the first wizards arrived.

0-O-0

(A/N: The end of Snape, it wasn't pretty but he's finally gone. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always thank you for reading and thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	34. My Animagus Form Is A What!

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Four: My Animagus Form Is A What?!

0-O-0

Dumbledore smiled as he put away the contract that Severus had signed that morning to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Hopefully by the end of next year things would have progressed to a point where Dumbledore would be able to shift him back to his position as Potions Professor. Slughorn would not be difficult to get for a single year, not with the promise of adding Harry Potter to his little club.

But before any of that he had a meeting to attend with Madam Bones. She had gotten her robes in a twist about him and Fudge trying to arrest Black for the murder of Harry Potter. Yes Dumbledore was glad that Harry was alive, well beyond glad really. Had Harry died his plans would have been ruined and he would have had to try and make new ones work with the Longbottom boy.

It was the point of the matter though that was causing the problems. Dumbledore was acting in the best interests of the world, which he couldn't fully explain, but that was to be expected with such a grand plan but Madam Bones refused to listen.

He removed one of the potions meant to help keep his mind sharp from his desk. He would need his wits about him dealing with her. He downed the potion and smiled as a warm feeling passed over his mind, he giggled at the feeling of his mind sharpening, the dull flakes of rust and age falling away.

Quickly he shook it off and returned to his grandfatherly persona, no need to go and give away any of his secrets by walking around with a wide smile on his face. Why, people might think he had just come from the broom cupboard!

When Dumbledore arrived at the ministry he was disappointed to be told to sit down and wait. Madam Bone's secretary had been given specific instruction not to let him talk his way out of the meeting so his complaints that he didn't have time to wait around fell on deaf ears.

When her door finally opened it was to let out a thoroughly scolded Minister of Magic. Fudge didn't think it was right; it wasn't his fault but Dumbledore's. But Madam Bones hadn't listened, she pointed out that he was the one to pull her people from their jobs; that he ignored several laws and the public was going after him.

As Fudge left her office he saw Dumbledore and glared at the old man. Dumbledore was taken back by the Minister's anger and made a mental note to have him around for tea, with a few potions to calm him down. While the Minister's ring was meant to detect such potions Fudge never wore it as it appeared gaudy.

It still took several more minutes before he was called in to see Madam Bones. Not that Dumbledore would let such a childish power play weigh on his mind. He had more trouble with her yelling. She kept going on and on about laws and some such, as if he could save them all working with such pesky things. Didn't she understand they only mattered when he used them against other people? They weren't meant to bind him.

Dumbledore was so disconnected from what she was saying, and the whole thing in general he almost missed it when she suddenly cut off mid word. That focused his mind to see a silver doe standing in the room with them. He immediately knew it was from Severus and important.

"_Help… James Potter…. Has returned…"_ The silver creature said in Severus's pained and strangled voice.

"I am sorry but I must go help Severus." Dumbledore jumped from his chair and raced to the door, only to find that Madam Bones had done the same and was following him.

She called two more aurors as they hurried along. At Dumbledore's shocked expression she just said. "That was an official call for help; this is how things are done. Not rushing off on your own."

Dumbledore was torn; on the one hand this could be very bad, having such people along when he went to help Severus, who knew what the man had been doing. On the other hand it could also go a long way in helping his cause and win them over to his side. In the end he decided to take a risk. "We must return to my office, Severus left a method to locate him in such an event."

When they reached the floo Dumbledore stepped through to his office and opened the connection for the others. He pulled out the device that tracked Severus; though it was crude as his spy was rightly paranoid it showed his location every fifteen minutes. Over the last dozen recordings were all from his home in Spinner's End.

Dumbledore grabbed a quill from his desk and turned it into a portkey. "Grab on."

They arrived amid what they could only call a disaster. The magical fire from Snape's house had begun to spread and the emergency responders were having difficultly containing it. Madam Bones immediately sent the call out for more help to try and deal with it before it got any further out of hand.

It didn't matter to Dumbledore though. Severus was dead. A check of the tracking device confirmed it. He hadn't noticed in his office but the last location had been sent over half an hour before. The Headmaster sat heavily on the curb and stared at the tracking device. How could this have happened? Yes Severus was still a bit rough around the edges but Dumbledore knew he was a good person, why had no one else been able to see that? Now, now it was too late. His friend who had given up so much for the light was gone, murdered by…. James Potter?

Suddenly a dozen half formed ideas and snippets of information fell into place. Someone who had been in the Order during the first war, who had felt that they were set up to die by Dumbledore, was believed to be dead. How had he not seen it? James Potter was Ash!

But how had he pulled it off? He had seen James Potter's body, or had he? He had rushed things back then to assure himself control of Harry. Had the body been a fake? Had James and Lily somehow escaped? No if they had they surely would have come for Harry. But…

But Harry wasn't as Dumbledore expected him to be, could it be that James had survived and helped Harry through his childhood, working all this time to see Dumbledore's plans broken upon the ground? That had to be it. Harry knew about his father, he had to, and so must Sirius by now.

James Potter had obviously learned that Severus was the one who had told Voldemort of the prophecy and come seeking revenge, a clearly dark move. That would also mean that he was the one who caught Peter and helped set Sirius free. Who knew what else he had been up to?

Dumbledore stood and made his way over to Madam Bones who was busy containing the growing fire and modifying memories as more wizards arrived from the Ministry to help. "Amelia, we must act quickly."

"What does it look like I'm doing Dumbledore?" She asked, barely sparing him a glance.

"No I mean to find James Potter." Dumbledore said.

"What?" Madam Bones asked.

Dumbledore began to explain his theory. Madam Bones didn't want to adamant it but it almost sounded reasonable. Still there were a few things that held her back from believing it. "Dumbledore you were one of those who confirmed their bodies. Are you saying that you were wrong?"

"It was a strange time for everyone, I may have missed something, and it is possible that I was tricked." Dumbledore admitted.

"Listen closely, I'm not about to put out a warrant for a dead man, a hero of the war, on the word of a Death Eater who was recorded as hating him. And what would I even arrest him for if he was alive?" Madam Bones asked.

"The murder of Severus Snape comes to mind." Dumbledore said with a wave towards the crumbled remains of Snape's house.

"We don't even know if Snape is dead." She pointed out.

"The tracker has stopped working, that would only happen if…"

"If someone severed its connection, yes death would stop it, but so would just removing the charm, and you have already admitted he knew about it so it is possible that he set this up. Frankly I find that more believable than James Potter somehow survived and has been in hiding for all these years." Madam Bones said.

"Pettigrew…"

"Just because it happened once doesn't mean it will happen again. Listen unless you can bring me some type of proof, better than a Death Eater who was known to hate James Potter saying he was being attacked be a dead man, the best I can do is leave the case open for now." She said.

"I trusted Severus with my life, while not everyone found him to be a pleasant person he sacrificed a great deal for the light and I will find the proof you need." Dumbledore turned and apparated away.

Had he thought about it he might find his own reaction somewhat more emotional than he expected. Yes he considered Severus a friend but not a very close one. The young Potion Master was more valuable as a spy than anything else. But he wasn't, Snape had come to represent his failed plans and James Potter was the problem. Remove James Potter and everything else would fall into place just has he had planned.

He just needed to remove Potter…

0-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna had spent the day quietly together. Removing Snape had been emotionally hard for them, despite knowing that they needed to. It was a strange feeling, not as bad as their first kills in the original time line, but far worse than their last ones.

They were still subdued when they returned to number 12 that evening. Sirius understood enough to give them their space and not ask questions aside from assurance that they were all unharmed. Xeno arrived to join them for dinner; plans had been made for them to spend the next day with the Grangers. Other plans had been changed so that during Harry's isolation at the Weasleys Luna and her father would take their expedition and the Grangers would have their family vacation. Neither of the girls was happy that they wouldn't be around if he needed their help but he pointed out if the Weasleys tried anything he, Sirius and Cortus could handle things.

Of course Dobby, Hedwig and Crookshanks all added their thoughts on the matter, which mostly involved ripping people to shreds. Dobby was happy though as he would be looking after the Granger's home and the Rookery while people were away.

They were in the middle of one of his wonderful meals when Dumbledore's head appeared in the floo and asked to come over. The first thing they noticed was that he seemed tired and much, much older than normal. He sat heavily in one of the chairs. "I am afraid I have some most disturbing news. Severus was murdered today."

"What happened?" Sirius asked after several moments of awkward silence.

"Someone arranged for a massive explosion at his home. Forgive me but none of you seem very upset about the man's death." Dumbledore said.

Sirius shrugged. "I hated the guy."

When Dumbledore turned his attention to Harry he mimicked Sirius and shrugged. "I had no attachment to him; I think he was a vile man. His death is no different to me than some random person's death I read about in the paper. Actually I'm just glad I'll never have to deal with him again."

"Before he died Severus managed to send a request for help." Dumbledore said, fishing for information, or at least trying to. The death of Severus and his subsequent embodiment of all of Dumbledore's failed plans had unhinged the old man a bit.

Harry rolled his eyes, they were sure they had left nothing behind that could be tied back to them. "Let me guess, he blamed me?"

"No actually, he claimed it was your father." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"James?" Sirius said.

"My father?" Harry asked, he had only taken the aging potion to mess with Snape a bit more. The thought that something like this would happen hadn't crossed his mind.

"Yes, Snape said that James Potter was attacking him before he died. As you can understand after what happened with Peter Pettigrew the Ministry is taking such a claim very seriously." Or they will once I have my proof. "Do any of you know anything about this?"

"James is dead." Sirius said quietly. "I saw his body."

"Then you will have no objections to exhuming his body to prove his death…"

"Hell No!" Sirius and Harry had both jumped to their feet and glared angrily at the Headmaster. "My father won't have his grave desecrated because of another one of your crazy ideas."

"If you want to dig James up you'll have to get the Wizengamot to order it." Both were well aware that they wouldn't do that to one of the old pureblood houses without a very good reason. A reason Dumbledore didn't have.

To Dumbledore this was just confirmation that he was correct, James Potter was alive and they knew. He stood and walked back to the floo. "If that is your answer then I may have to do just that. Harry, when you see your father please inform him that his unfounded hatred for Severus has lead him down a very dark path. And think if you truly wish to follow in his darkened footsteps."

The occupants of the house were left shocked as he stepped into the floo and vanished back to his office. Luna was the first to recover. "And people called me loony; I think we actually broke his mind."

Hermione nodded as her mind recovered from the shock. "I think you're right. At this rate he probably won't last the summer before he has a breakdown."

0-0

Later that night Sirius returned from the Ministry, he had gone straight over after Dumbledore's visit to see just how seriously the whole James Potter has returned from the dead thing was being taken. Apparently it wasn't. "Madam Bones told Dumbledore no, that's why he came here. He is trying to find proof that it was James who killed Snape. But even Fudge isn't buying it this time. Though apparently he is still licking his wounds from the chewing out he got from Madam Bones."

"Good, we'll send word to Rita tomorrow, I'm sure she'll like another story about his slipping mentality." Hermione said.

"Hopefully we can stop him before he tries to drag my family name through the mud." Harry said.

0-0

As it turned out they couldn't. The next day the front page was dominated by a story from Rita's sister about how James Potter was believed to be alive and out on a murderous killing spree. As Hermione put it the article read like a poorly written b-list movie. It tried to convince the reader that James Potter was alive but had abandoned his son. Returned to free Sirius Black to start building a powerbase and was soon to become a new Dark Lord with an enslaved phoenix. And that his murder of Severus Snape was both revenge for Snape out preforming him in school as well as a way to hamper the light.

"Sirius please tell me we can do something about this?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure but I'll head down to the Prophet's office and see what the hell they were thinking." Sirius said.

Xeno had his own copy of the paper and had continued reading. He had to admit breakfast with them was wonderful, and Dobby had even managed some of his more exotic tastes after being given a proper recipe. He chuckled at one of the stories hidden deeper in the paper. "The Ministry's official story is that he died in a potions accident and the muggles believe it was some type of drug lab that exploded. Apparently it was easy to believe because while he owned the house he had no records of ever working and the family was considered poor, so illegal funds from drugs is an easy explanation. I wonder if Dumbledore saw this article?"

"I doubt it." Sirius said and he hastily finished his food.

Xeno kissed his daughter before she Harry and Hermione left for the Granger's. When they arrived Hermione's parents immediately noticed their down moods. "What's wrong?"

"You remember that horrid instructor we had, Snape?" Hermione asked, at their nods she continued. "Yesterday he died in some type of potions accident."

"It's not a bad thing." Harry said. "He did awful things in the past and future. But Dumbledore somehow got it into his head that my dead father was behind it."

Dan held up his hands to stop Harry. "I'm sorry did you say Dumbledore thinks that your dead father somehow came back to life to kill Snape?"

"Yes, that's what Harry said." Luna nodded. "Dumbledore also had an article published this morning saying as much."

They once again had to assure Hermione's parents that they weren't in any danger from the old man, that he was just annoying. It took a good deal of the morning.

0-0

Sirius left the Daily Prophet with mixed feelings. The editor had agreed that the article was out of line but Dumbledore had used some pull in the Ministry to have it published and there wasn't much that could be done about it.

He tried to not let it sour him for another very important meeting that afternoon. When he walked into the Leaky Cauldron he went straight back to the private booth he had reserved and greeted his oldest living friend. "Remus."

"Sirius." Remus returned his hug before they took their seats. "I was surprised to get your letter, I hadn't heard about you being innocent at that time. It's been a few years since I was in the magical world."

"Don't worry about it, I did some digging and found those new regulations that got pushed through for werewolves." Sirius said.

"Yes, they either drive you to crime or the muggle world, sometimes both. Thankfully no one cares if you fake a few documents to get by." Remus said. He hadn't liked it but adding himself into some respected schools and faking an education was the only thing that allowed him to keep a decent job.

"Well if you're looking for work I have some stuff I need done that I can't just trust to anyone." He held up a hand to cut off Remus, he knew his friend and his oldest argument. "You do the work you get paid. Just because we are friends doesn't mean I'll take charity from you."

Remus was left speechless as his argument had its legs cut off. Then he leaned back in his chair. "I don't believe it; I think the dementors actually made you smarter…"

"You wound me." Sirius said.

"If only." Remus shook his head. "So what is this so called job, and I swear I will hit you if you say helping you to pick up woman."

"Not a bad idea but no. It's really more of a bunch of odd jobs, bit of this, bit of that. But they all require a quiet mouth and delicate hands." Sirius said. "And they will all help Harry."

"Then of course I will." Remus said.

"Good. But I'll need you to sign this." Sirius slid a contract to Remus. While he was sure they could trust him the kids had been less sure due to the almost blind loyalty he had demonstrated towards Dumbledore at some point in the future. When the suggestion of a contact to help protect their secrets was made both Sirius and Xeno had insisted on signing them as well.

"I understand." Remus said with a sad sigh.

"I don't think that you do. If James returned from the dead I wouldn't let him near Harry without signing this or an oath." Sirius said.

"Does this have anything to do with today's paper?" Remus asked.

"No, I actually came up with that line last week before this latest round of Dumbledore's idiocy." Sirius was surprised by the annoyed look that crossed Remus face at his bad mouthing of Dumbledore. Maybe the contracts had been a good idea. "Look both Xeno and I signed the same contract; it has nothing to do with your furry little problem."

"Alright." Remus signed the contract and passed it back to Sirius.

"Excellent. Now have I got a story to tell you, but it's best done back at my place." Sirius said.

0-0

Dumbledore made one of the visits that he was least looking forward to. He stepped out of the floo into Malfoy Manor. Lord Malfoy looked him over cautiously. "Headmaster, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I am sure you have heard about the unfortunate death of Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"I have, he was a good friend of the family." Malfoy replied. "And you claim that James Potter somehow returned from the dead to murder him."

"I did not make the claim but Severus. He sent a message that James Potter had attacked him; I was with Madam Bones at the time as I am sure your own sources can confirm. By the time we reached his home though it was too late. Madam Bones has declined to investigate the matter further. However I felt it was best to give you and your family warning. James Potter is back and he has turned dark. I doubt he would hesitate to kill off your entire line. Be wary." Dumbledore said.

Malfoy looked the man over, now more than ever he believed that Dumbledore had gone crazy. "I will keep that in mind, thank you."

Dumbledore nodded and left. He had had the idea to warn certain families that might be in danger as a show of good faith, then when Voldemort was defeated they might remember the kindness and turn back towards the light.

Now he had the unpleasant task of finding another Defense Professor, maybe Lockhart was still available? He had been Dumbledore's choice before the post had gone to Severus.

0-0

Ginny was skipping around the Burrow as she had been since it was confirmed that Harry would be staying with them for August. He'd be at her birthday! It was a dream come true. And in September she would join second year and have classes with him!

Ron was also having a good summer, especially with a house elf! He'd made up a fake contest to cover where it had come from. His mother loved ordering it around too; apparently while she loved cooking and cleaning she loved telling the elf to do it just as much. However Ron could never remember its name and ended up calling several different things throughout the day. Not that he cared. And at night, should he feel hungry around 3 in the morning and want a turkey, the elf had to get him one! It was great!

0-0

That night Harry officially meet Remus; he was a bit of a mixed bag as far as they were concerned. He could be very useful and was the last true friend Sirius had. But his loyalty towards Dumbledore left them a bit sour towards him. In the end though they had agreed to ease him into the knowledge that they were from the future. The contract would make sure he didn't tell anyone.

They started by bringing him to Potter Manor the following day, but they decided to keep Slytherin secret for another time. Two days after that Remus was well into his first job of helping to sort out the numerous magical objects at 12, Dobby might be able to understand some information about them but Remus had a great deal more knowledge about their uses.

That night when Harry, Hermione and Luna were having dinner at number 12 with Sirius and Remus, Harry brought up a subject that he had wanted to for some time. "Sirius, can you teach us to become animagi?"

Remus choked on his drink. "Aren't you all a bit young for that?"

"They're more mature than they look." Sirius said.

"Plus after everything that happened this year it would be useful to have another trick." Harry said and they explained several of the incidents. Though nothing that gave away their time traveling.

Remus understood their desire then and summed up his thoughts in a question to Sirius. "How did they manage to get into more trouble in first year than we did in seven?"

"Well not counting those panty raids. And they are skilled." Sirius said. He turned back to them. "Alright, there are different methods to become an animagus. The first and hardest way involves years of difficult magics and mental preparations. The normal way still takes years, but uses potions to cut out some of the hardest parts. Officially those are the only two legal methods. However there is another method, it's the one we used.

"If we hadn't it would have taken us a lot longer. I found it in my family library, I should mention that it is technically illegal so don't go telling people about it. A potion the will complete the process for you. The Ministry banned it because they don't like having a bunch of animagi running around." Sirius explained.

"So this is the method my dad used." Harry said more to himself than anyone else.

"That's right; we spent two years trying the other method without much success. This potion took care of it. And it's not that hard to make. Remus you can brew it right?" Sirius asked.

"I believe so but I'd need to check the recipe again." Remus said, living on his own for so long meant that he had developed a fair hand at many things, cooking and brewing among them. Though his skills weren't up to the level where he was comfortable brewing his Wolfsbane potion. Not that he could afford the ingredients anyways.

It didn't take Sirius long to locate the book with the potion and Remus assured them he could get the ingredients and brew it within the week. Later the night Sirius found Harry reading in the library. "So pup any ideas on what animal you'll be?"

"No, we never managed it in the future. We found some fragmented information but never enough to actually do it. We never even heard of this potion, so no idea." Harry admitted. His excitement was already bubbling over and only grew as the potion was brewed. That it had been in the Black library in this point of time meant that it had been removed later before they took up residence in number 12. Harry would bet that Dumbledore had taken the book, his journals did mention that he liked to raid old family libraries.

0-0

"Hogwarts welcomes you Professor Lockhart." Dumbledore said as his newest professor signed his contract.

"Happy to be here." Lockhart said. This would be another nice feather in his cap and a real boost to his book sales. Every student with his complete works, gold coins danced before his eyes, and who knew he might even find something worth writing another book about.

0-0

Two young Slytherin girls sat in a well-kept parlor and sipped tea. "So your uncle is going to be our new defense professor? The one who taught you those memory charms?"

"Yes, if we can make it worth his time he might even help us deal with those two bitches. Granger and Lovegood won't know what hit them." The other said.

"I don't know, haven't you noticed everyone who causes them problems tends to end up in some kind of accident? Even Professor Snape died making a potions mistake, as if I'd believe that." The first said.

"So? As long as it isn't traced back to us we're safe. We didn't get caught for what happened on Halloween did we?" She asked.

"I suppose."

0-0

Three vials sat on the table, one each for Harry, Hermione and Luna. Harry's hands were itching for his own; he couldn't wait to see what his animal was. Some type of predator, like a wolf or tiger, or maybe a hawk or a falcon. Though over the last week the idea of becoming a stag like his father had become his favorite possibility. "So how goes first?"

"Youngest?" Luna suggested.

Harry grunted in exasperation, he knew she only suggested that to delay him. "Fine."

As Luna took the first vial Sirius and Remus sat ready with a large tome they had retrieved from the Black library that was charmed to easily identify different animals. They'd use it if one of their forms wasn't easily recognizable. Luna tipped back the vial and barely had time to utter 'oh' before she began to change.

The best way Harry could describe her form was a small cross between a fox and a cat, with very large ears. It's fur the color of Luna's hair. Luna stretched out her new form before she jumped into Harry's lap. He reached down and scratched behind her ear, half expecting her to start purring. Hermione frowned as she studied Luna. "I have no idea what she is, what does the book say?"

Remus waited a moment before he answered. "A Fennec fox. Native to North Africa and the Sahara."

"Well she's still adorable." Harry said and was reward with a quick lick of his fingers before Luna rolled over to expose her belly.

"And still demanding." Hermione said as she reached over and petted the small fox's soft fur. "Alright change back. It's my turn."

"Hey!" Harry tried to protest but Hermione had already downed her vial with a smirk.

Luna changed back just as Hermione took on her animal form. Harry wasn't sure how to describe Hermione's form. It was definitely some type of bird. With long legs and a very sharp beak. Several feathers stood out on her head and reminded Harry of how wild her hair was before she began using the potion on it. "Remus?"

"A Secretary bird, mostly terrestrial, bird of prey related to the buzzard and vulture, natives to Africa…"

Luna squealed and began to stroke Hermione's head, even as a bird she stood almost as tall as Luna. "We're African sister!"

Remus coughed. "Er, yes it appears so. Very intelligent, can fly but prefers to walk, noted for hunting snakes."

Hermione changed back but had to swat Luna's hand away when she continued to pet her head. "Well I'm not thrilled to be a bird but at least I won't need to fly all the time."

"If you don't mind can I finally find out my form?" Harry practically begged.

"I suppose so." Sirius said.

Harry downed his vial and waited, the sensation was like being sucked into himself. The world blurred around him, when it stopped he looked at the others. Only to realize they were all much larger than they had been a moment before. He looked down at himself hoping to see feathers and wings. Instead he saw fur and paws.

Hermione and Luna coo'd over how adorable he was. Sirius conjured a mirror and set it down for Harry. He took one look at himself in it and began to run around the room in frustration. He was a black kitten! He was supposed to be a large predator, a bird! Not a common kitten!

Harry stopped when he almost ran into Crookshanks who had just walked in. He took one look at Harry and frowned, well as much as a cat with a squished face could. _"Minion bird nest? What happened? Oh no, is this because I lick your head while you're asleep?! Not good not good."_

Crookshanks butted his head against Harry and tried to push him from the room. _"Hurry, Minion Fuzzy can't see you or she won't give me rubs or treats!"_

"I've already seen you." Hermione said, her arms crossed as she looked down at her cat.

Harry changed back. "What do you mean you lick my head while I am asleep?"

Crookshanks curled up around himself. _"I like to make your head fur look silly so I play with it while you sleep."_

Luna burst out laughing; she scoped him up and told him how good he was. Much to Hermione's and Harry's annoyance.

Harry sat down with a heavy sigh. "I was really hoping to be a stag like my father."

Sirius clapped him on the back. "Don't feel bad, a parent's form is no guarantee of a child's. Actually in the rare cases that they are recorded they almost always differ. Though if you find two people with the same form chances are that they are related."

"Still a kitten?" Harry shook his head.

Crookshanks jumped onto his lap and flexed his claws. "_And what is wrong with being a feline?"_

0-0

Once things had calmed down again, and Luna had convinced Harry to explore the house in their animagus forms Sirius walked over to Hermione. "By the way I got everything on your list, but what are you going to do with all that dragons' blood? I mean that's more than most dragons even have."

"Just a side project." Hermione said. She would be glad to finally get back to it. But she'd need to get Harry and Luna to help her with the rune work.

0-O-0

(A/N: As always thank you for reading and thanks to this chapter's Beta Katzztar, drscot and kage66.)


	35. Breakdown at the Ministry

(A/N: Thank you to everyone who wished my mother a speedy recovery from her fall. Her ribs are mostly healed and she is back to her normal days. This chapter is a bit shorter than normal as I didn't have much time to write over the last three months. Also this chapter hasn't been to a beta so all mistakes are mine.)

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Five: Breakdown at the Ministry

0-O-0

Harry Hermione and Luna stood in the basement of Potter Manor in front of a large assortment of metal bits, coiled hoses, cylinders, tubes and gages. To Harry it looked like the pieces to the most complex distillery on the planet. "Alright, you need us to help you carve runes into the metal. But what is this for exactly?"

"Disposing of bodies?" Luna guessed.

"No, well I suppose parts of it could be… Something to look into I suppose but no. I'm going to make a Philosophers Stone." Hermione said proudly.

Harry and Luna looked at her in shock. "Hermione, is there something you want to tell us?"

"Well, after we found out the stone at Hogwarts was a fake and then the disappointment with the mirror I just got fed up and asked the room for any information on the Philosophers Stone. One of the books it produced was a journal by Nicholas Flamel! It was coded though and it took me a good deal of time to decode it." Hermione explained.

"And it told you how to make a stone?" Luna asked.

"Among other things yes. The first page was a warning that the stone wouldn't give you everlasting life, but it could heal just about anything. Looking over the process to make it I understand why." Hermione gestured towards the pile of metal. "A large amount of dragon's blood provides the base for a potion that will be distilled down into a Philosopher's Stone before a stabilizing agent is applied."

Luna nodded, her brow wrinkled in thought. "That makes sense; dragon's blood is the base of a number of healing potions. And they say whatever doesn't kill a dragon within five minutes probably won't."

"It would be useful. What about the gold?" Harry asked.

"A by product but not nearly as much as people would think. It would take nearly seventy years to make enough gold to pay for the materials alone." Hermione explained. "Now are you going to help me inscribe these runes or not?"

They spent the next three days working on the equipment that would, if Hermione was correct, create a Philosopher's stone. Having access to the strongest healing potion in the world would definitely help them. Phoenix tears were good but they only worked on physical wounds or poisons. Not curses. And there was the fact that Fawkes was still stuck at Hogwarts. A quick look at the bindings between Fawkes and Hogwarts hadn't done much good in finding a way to help the phoenix. The stone would just be more versatile and easier for them to use.

The first problem came when it was time to brew the potion. A dozen giant cauldrons were needed to hold the dragon's blood and the entire potion needed to be brewed in one go. Even with Sirius and Xeno's assistance they didn't have enough hands and finally decided to ask Remus for help.

They still didn't mention that they were from the future but informed him about their attempt to recreate the Philosophers Stone. Between the six of them and Dobby supplying the other ingredients as needed they managed to finish all the cauldrons within an hour of each other and poured them into the largest of the metal containers.

Once the process was set in motion there was nothing to do but wait for it to finish. Unfortunately that would take almost a year.

The three students spent a good deal of time over the proceeding weeks in the forest around Potter Manor. Testing their animus forms and becoming accustom to them. Harry found that running full out as a cat was almost as thrilling as flying. Crookshanks loved that there was another cat around, one that he could teach to hunt just as Hedwig had taught him. Sirius also assured him that his form would grow into a proper cat. It was only his age that caused him to come out as an adorable kitten rather than an adult cat.

Luna took to using her form a great deal when she wanted attention. Including during a sudden rain storm when she jumped into Harry's shirt to remain dry. Hermione also came to enjoy her form; it was fast, agile and didn't need to fly to be deadly. She had bought a number of muggle books that contained information on Secretary birds and learned that they were considered one of the closet descendants of raptors, at least in hunting methods. She was also easily the fasts on their runs, her long legs out pacing the two smaller animals. She tended to only use her wings when she wanted to get to the top of a tree, a single powerful beat of her wings could propel her to a great height. She was also rather pleased that her form was excellent at hunting snakes.

Unfortunately while they were able to accomplish a number of things from their list the most important ones were still out of their reach. When they dealt with Snape, even without needing to take down the wards and fight him, they had exhausted their magic and taken longer than expected to recover.

They could have possible gone after one other target but the risk of something going wrong wasn't worth it since their target wasn't going anywhere.

But the less magically intensive plans could be accomplished, which was why Harry and Sirius entered the Ministry of Magic one day in mid-July. The guard did a double take when he realized who they were. "Wands please, and purpose of visit?"

They handed over their wands, in Harry's case the wand he sued at school.

"Family business." Sirius said. It was a general all-purpose reason for visiting the Ministry and was never disputed.

They were waved past the guard and stepped onto the lift. It traveled down to level nine and they stepped off without anyone taking notice of them.

Harry was surprised to learn that the Unspeakable actually had an office across from the courtroom. They stepped into it to find a woman behind a desk; it all seemed far too ordinary. "Good morning, how may I help you?"

"Good morning, we believe that there is a prophecy about my god-son and would like to retrieve it." Sirius said.

"Very well, we will of course have to test him to insure that the prophecy is actually about him, otherwise the protections would do him a good deal of harm. Please fill out this form with all the information that you know to help us locate the proper prophecy." The woman slid a piece of parchment across to them.

So as not to reveal anything Sirius only wrote that it was about Voldemort and Harry Potter. "Here you go."

"Thank you. If you will wait in the hall an Unspeakable will be out soon to assist you." she said.

They stepped out into the hall and waited. True to her word an Unspeakable arrived not long after and escorted them down to the Hall of Prophecy. It was just as Harry remembered it; they had learned much later that most of the orbs were fakes. Why the Department of Mystery felt that they needed so many decoys was anyone's guess. Maybe it was just so if a Minister visited they'd think the department was doing something.

"Here we are, please stand next to the prophecy without touching it. I will cast the charm to insure that it is about you." The Unspeakable raised their wand and a series of lights fell over Harry. "Confirmed, you may remove the prophecy orb. Will you be listening to it here or taking it with you?"

"Taking it with us." Harry scooped up the orb and slipped it into an expanded pocket in his robes.

"Very well, please sign this receipt." The Unspeakable handed a piece of parchment to Sirius. The looked it over before they signed and left the Department of Mystery.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the lift arrived back on the main level of the Ministry; he should have realized that it was too soon to relax. They hadn't even reached the guard station when Dumbledore blocked their path. "Sirius, Harry, what are the two of you doing here?"

Sirius attempted to step around the Headmaster with Harry but the old man continued to block their path. "That is a family matter, as you are not family let us pass."

"I would very much like to know what you are doing here. If it is something that could pose a threat to Harry than I am afraid I must remove him from your care." Dumbledore said, his eyes shifting wildly. A hint of madness shone in them, replacing the once prominent twinkle.

"You don't have the authority to do that." Sirius reminded him. Numerous people had taken notice of the group and were watching with interest.

"Did James send you?" Dumbledore asked quietly. "Did you… you did didn't you?"

"Albus Dumbledore!" Sirius shouted. "Step aside and stop bothering us."

"What's going on?" it seemed that the aurors had finally taken notice of the disturbance. A pair of them made their way over. Dozens of eyes watched them, secretly hoping for something good to gossip about.

Dumbledore smiled as they approached. "Excellent, these two are attempting to steal Ministry property."

They looked between Dumbledore Sirius and Harry. "Sorry but we'll have to check, please empty your pockets."

"I am carrying a private family item." Harry said formally, glad that he'd been studying the obscure rights that certain families had. "As it is a family item, and of a delicate nature I am afraid that I can only comply with your request under the supervision of Madam Bones."

"Surely there is no need for tha…" Dumbledore began.

"It's their right. Come along and don't try anything. We'll see if she's free to handle this." One of the aurors said. Dumbledore frowned but followed behind the aurors with Harry and Sirius. They went back to the lifts and down to the auror department.

As luck would have it Madam Bones was free, or found them more interesting than what she was doing and moved everyone to an interview room. "Alright, now Dumbledore what exactly are you claiming this time?"

"Mr. Black and Mr. Potter are attempting to remove Ministry property from the building. If I am correct it is very dangerous and must be guarded carefully." Dumbledore actually puffed out his chest as he spoke much like Percy had taken to doing when he thought that he was important. Harry wondered just how far around the bend Dumbledore had gone.

"I am aware of the item Dumbledore speaks of, and I do have it. However he is incorrect that it is Ministry property. It is mine to do with as I please." Harry said carefully.

"Would you please show us the item in question?" Madam Bones asked.

"Of course." Harry slowly reached into his pocket and removed the prophecy orb. He sat it on the table.

Madam Bones looked at the orb with wide eyes. "Is that…?"

"Yes, it is a prophecy that concerns me and a dark lord, supposedly Voldemort. Though we can't be sure of that unless he was kind enough to stand next to it and someone used that charm the Unspeakable did." Harry said.

"Sirius I am very disappointed in you. Harry is far too young to be entrusted with such knowledge or responsibility. Madam Bones this makes it clear that Sirius is not fit to be Harry's guardian I demand that he is removed at once." Dumbledore said smugly.

Madam Bones wondered if she should ignore him or have him committed for observations by a mind healer. She chose the first option. "You signed the receipt for this I trust?"

"Yes Madam Bones. You can ask the Unspeakable if you like." Harry said.

Madam Bones sent a memo down to the Unspeakable and asked for a copy of the receipt, just to make sure Dumbledore didn't have a leg to stand on. Then turned her attention back to Harry. "Have you listened to it yet?"

"No, I just know that Voldemort heard part of it somehow and that was why he went after my parents." Harry lied.

"Amelia surely you must see that this is not the type of knowledge that a child should have, it lead to his parents death." Dumbledore pleaded with her to see reason.

Sirius glared at the old man. "Enough! Harry deserves to know why Voldemort keeps trying to kill him; maybe something in there can help us keep the bastard dead this time. Or is there something in it that you are afraid of?"

"What do you mean keep him dead?" Madam Bones demanded.

"Hogwarts business." Dumbledore said hurriedly.

"So Dumbledore didn't tell you that Harry was nearly killed when a professor posseted by Voldemort's spirit tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone?" Sirius asked, managing to sound both innocent and accusing at the same time.

"No, he didn't." Madam Bones turned her glare on the Headmaster. "Is this true?"

"It is Hogwarts business and as such…"

"It bloody well isn't! If you're harboring a Dark Lord it is a public safety violation not to mention child endangerment!" Madam Bones shouted. Her rant was interrupted by a memo landing in front of her. "The Unspeakable have confirmed that you legally remove the prophecy and it is yours. May I ask to listen to it as well?"

"I am sorry but no." Harry knew there really wasn't much to it but they had planned to use the prophecy later if they needed to put pressure on Dumbledore since the headmaster wanted to keep it secret.

"What?" Madam Bones was surprised by his answer.

"I don't know what it says yet, if there is information that I can use to protect my family I'm not about to reveal it in front of those that I don't trust." Harry gave a pointed look at Dumbledore. The prophecy was made to Dumbledore but Madam Bones didn't know that and the Headmaster didn't know that Harry knew it either.

"And if there is information that can protect everyone?" madam Bones asked.

"Then I will pass it on." Harry said.

Madam Bones desperately wanted to do something, to order them to let her hear the orb but the law was clear that whatever it said was their property. There was nothing that she could do. But at least she could deal with Dumbledore. "You two are free to go, Dumbledore you're coming with me."

"You can't just let them leave with the prophecy!" Dumbledore shouted.

"I don't have a choice." Madam bones admitted.

0-O-0

As Harry and Sirius left the ministry Madam Bones dragged Dumbledore into Fudge's office. But the meeting didn't go as she had hoped. Fudge refused to believe that Voldemort could still be out there in some way without proof. The Unspeakables confirmed that the Dark Lord wasn't named and even with Dumbledore's reluctant confirmation that Voldemort had been in Hogwarts the Minister wouldn't do anything.

Madam Bones left frustrated. Dumbledore remained to try and convince Fudge that Voldemort truly was back. It wasn't information that he wanted to get around but denying it now would make it that much harder when he did return.

"Enough Albus! I can't do anything without proof, you get me that, or make it, I don't care which. Then I can do something. Until then drop it!" Fudge practically kicked him from the office.

0-O-0

Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, everything was falling apart. He needed a solution, something that could bring his plans back home. Put them back on track. But how? This would require all of his mighty intellect. Actually it would require beyond what he had, he needed more, he needed a new potion to help him.

Hathfojd watched as Dumbledore spent several hours scribbling down ideas. Fawkes gave a sad trill.

0-O-0

The part of the summer that they would spend together quickly approached its end. Madam Bones was less than pleased when they only provided her limited information on the prophecy, not nearly enough to force Fudge to actually do anything.

As Harry's birthday approached Hermione and Luna informed him that he would have a large party at the Luna's home with a majority of their year mates as well as some other Hufflepuffs. Harry recognized their determined looks and decided it was best for his health not to argue.

The day before his party though Harry Hermione and Luna went to celebrate Neville's birthday. To their disappointment Neville's grandmother had kept with tradition and invited mostly older people from the upper levels of society. But there were a few others their age around as well and Neville confessed that it was the best party he could remember.

0-O-0

Harry's party started off wonderfully. The only potential problem being that they'd had little choice but to invite the Weasleys, especially as they wanted the twins to come. That however meant the rest of the family showing up as well, worse Dumbledore had somehow managed to have the restraining order altered so that as long as neither Ron nor Percy actually slept in the same building as Harry they didn't violate it. Judge Cortus hinted that Dumbledore had paid several large bribes to get that around him.

Despite being the closet the Weasleys were the last to arrive and as soon as they did Molly began making a nuisance of herself. Making snide comments about how the party was set up and who was invited. Everyone was successfully ignoring her until there was a commotion by the refreshment table.

Everyone rushed over to find Dobby pinning another elf on the ground, he had one of her arms pressed tightly against her back while she tried to escape. Molly had shirked and cast a spell at Dobby who rolled out of the way and brought the other elf with him. Before she could try again Luna had snatched away her wand.

"Enough." Harry's voice carried a surprising amount of authority that stopped everyone but the struggling elf. "Dobby, what happened?"

"Dobby is catching other elf tampering with food." Dobby almost growled.

"I is being ordered to fix foody by Mummy!" The other elf squeaked out.

Molly glared at Luna. She wanted to snatch her wand back but the little girl was incredibly fast. "Of course I told it to fix the food, look at this disgracefully forging slop. It's not fit for a proper English boy like Harry. Now whoever owns that elf is going to be in a lot of trouble."

Harry couldn't believe her; she had never been this bad so early on last time. It was years before they saw this side of her. Was it just because things weren't going her way or was she so assured in her position that she didn't feel the need to play nice? "Considering he just answered me I think it is safe to assume that Dobby works for the House of Black." He had already explained to Dobby that this would be the story for now as it would result in less questions or issues from some people.

"Sirius Black you tell your elf to release ours this instant! I will have you before the DMLE for this." Molly shouted.

Luna half expected spit to fly from the woman's mouth. How could anyone think she was suited to raise children? Quietly she backed away to make sure the round woman wouldn't get her wand back.

"I would like to see you try. That elf had no reason to be here and no reason to start playing with the food and neither do you. I think after that little display you should leave, you're putting everyone off and breaking up a good time." Sirius said.

"How dare you!" Before Molly could continue her husband had put a firm hand on her shoulder and motioned for her to do as she was told.

"Well since I am leaving and Harry will be coming to stay with us soon why don't I just take him back now?" Molly offered all too sweetly.

"Not a chance, he doesn't have to go with you until tomorrow morning and you won't be getting him a second sooner." Sirius used a glare that his mother was fond of. It always put the fear of Merlin in him as a child.

A very angry Molly stormed away from the party and soon everyone was back to enjoying themselves. Luna had given Molly's wand to Arthur before she joined Harry and Hermione away from the others. "How much do you think it will cost Dumbledore to deal with Molly's rant?"

"No idea, but the more he has to spend the better for us. It'll also take up more of his time." Harry said.

"We'll have to change a few plans since they have an elf now." Hermione said.

"Dobby can still be doing, Dobby is sneakiest elf." Dobby assured them.

They returned to mingle with the others and enjoy Harry's last day of freedom. The twins apologized for their mum while Ron and Percy just stuck near the food and glared. Ginny refused to even look at them but they weren't sure if it was because of anger or embarrassment.

Once the presents and cake were finished, Luna had to be talked out of making one big enough for her to jump out of. The young girl only relented when Hermione promised to join her if they waited a few years. They returned to Potter Manor for a quiet evening together before they all went their spate ways.

0-O-0

Dumbledore had on a cloak designed to hide the wearer's identity. Along with a number of charms to do the same. He couldn't be too careful; it wouldn't do for him to be seen here among the dregs of society. The bar was set back no Knockturn Alley and was where he would find the people he was looking for. Severus, rest his sweet soul, had been useful for a number of unsavory deeds that still needed done.

Without him Dumbledore was forced to see to his needs in another way. There sitting at the back corner table were the people he needed, each had been a low ranking Death Eater and would not object to his request as long as gold was provided.

He took a seat at their table and ignored their glares. "I am in need of some muggle dealt with. I was told you could see to it."

"Maybe we can. You got anything to make it worth our trouble?" One of the men asked. They had no need to fear being set up, no DMLE scum would dare set foot in this particular bar.

"Isn't killing a few muggles its own reward?" It made Dumbledore sick but it had to be done. Granger was a big problem and could see their world destroyed unless she was out of the picture. Harry had to follow his plan and he was sure she was one of the main reasons that he was fighting her. Sadly by her own actions he had few choices in the timeframe that presented itself. He would weep for her.

"Sure sure, but we could do any of those animals. No shortage of them why should we go for the ones you want?" Another asked, leaning in closer.

His rancid breath washed over Dumbledore who had to resist offering him a mint. "Well I suppose for your trouble something could be arranged." He pulled out the bag of gold and put it on the table.

"Yeah, that'll do. Who you want us to do? Any requests?" The first asked.

"Quick and painless." Dumbledore said as he slid them a parchment with the Granger's address. He had decided on the date so that harry was safely at the Weasleys and wouldn't hear of it until school started. By then he would naturally turn towards them for comfort and it was all back on track. "Tomorrow night."

The men laughed. "Right, quick and painless, you got it."

"Excellent, our business is finished, good day gentlemen." Dumbledore stood and left. He was very proud of his plan. Thanks to his new mental boosting potion he had even thought to poison the gold so that those three would die in just two days. One less thing to link him back to the Granger's murder. Sometimes his mind impressed even him.

0-O-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope to get back into a normal updating schedule now that things have settled down. Though it seems every time I say that something else happens.)


	36. Into the Burrow

(A/N: To everyone who said I jinxed myself after my last update, you were correct.)

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Six: Into the Burrow

0-0

One of the main reasons that Harry loved staying at Potter Manor was because it allowed a great deal of freedom. The day after his birthday he woke with his arms wrapped around Hermione, Luna was sprawled across their legs again and snoring softly. How such a small body could take up so much space had to involve a bit of magic.

He wasn't looking forward to the next month, not only would he be stuck at the Weasleys but unable to do anything productive. Worse they would all be apart for a month! By their perspective they hadn't been apart for so long in over a decade.

The morning past far too quickly for any of them. They knew it wasn't for long, and thanks to Hermione and Luna they'd be able to speak whenever they wanted. The girls had improved the two way mirrors once used by Harry's father and Sirius, the old ones could only be linked in pairs and had a limited range. The new ones could have three mirrors linked together with a much larger range, hopefully enough to cover all of Europe. But even having three mirrors was pushing the enchantments.

That didn't help much as each felt they were saying goodbye to two thirds of themselves. Neither Sirius nor Remus commented on the three of them sitting so close together as to always have some form of contact.

Plans had been made to cover everything that they could think of. Harry had taken a neutralizing potion that should protect him in case any of the Weasleys decided to try something. As the potion was invited after Voldemort had taken over they were confident that it would work against anything that could be brewed now.

Luna pressed herself extra close to Harry and Hermione; she was conflicted about the time they would spend apart. She knew that she would miss them terrible, she already did and they hadn't even left yet. But she was also looking forward to going out into the field with her father. Those had always been some of the happiest memories she had of him. If only Harry and Hermione could come then it would be perfect.

Hermione was having similar thoughts.

Agreements had been made for Dobby to watch after all their homes while they were away as well as take care of a few other things such as Crookshanks. Who had decided he would rather stay in England and help Harry. Personally Hermione thought it had something to do with his fear of airplanes. Flying was fine but the small cat was convinced that the great metal owls were out to get him.

They all suspected Hedwig had something to do with that but no proof.

It was a tearful goodbye between the three children at the Grangers. Sirius had promised to return in a few hours and apparate them to a spot near the airport to make the start of their vacation easier.

The scene was repeated at the Lovegoods where Harry and Luna could barely bring themselves to part.

Finally Harry and Sirius apparated to the Burrow. Sirius couldn't help but notice that Harry walked like a condemned man. He'd seen it enough in Azkaban to recognize it. "Buck up. It is only for a month and you can drive them crazy. Besides you'll all be on your mirrors soon chatting away."

When he didn't respond Sirius stopped and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Look, just try not to kill any of them alright?"

"That's asking a lot, and I'm only human." Harry replied but Sirius caught a hint of a smile.

"Do your best." Sirius said. He considered having a little chat with Arthur but decided that if they wanted to basically kidnap Harry for a month they could deal with the consequences. He already knew some of his godson's plans and hoped he would provide a memory of it later.

As soon as Harry stepped into the kitchen Molly was fussing about him. "Harry! Wonderful, come sit down and I'll make you breakfast."

"Thank you but I already ate." Harry said.

"Nonsense dear! It'll just be a minute and we'll get you a proper English breakfast, you're a growing boy and need a decent breakfast." Molly began to bustle around the kitchen fixing him a plate.

"I'm really not hungry." Harry tired again. His will not to hex the portly woman already stretched thin.

Molly set a plate on the table and shoved him into a seat. "I'm in charge of fixing you up and that's what I'll do. And that starts with a good breakfast. Now you will not be leaving the table until you have finished that plate do you understand?"

"I do." Harry replied blandly. When she returned to busying herself with whatever she was doing he pulled out another chair and lay across it, hands folded over his stomach. He had no intention of eating the food so rudely presented to him and figured that he would have to remain at the table for some time. So he might as well take a nap.

0-0

Arthur knew things were going to be rocky with Harry staying at the Burrow for a month. The young man didn't have the best experiences with his family but he was determined to change that. He had been lucky enough to get a few days off and he hoped by the time he went back Harry would have settled in.

He had spoken with Sirius for a few minutes when he dropped Harry off. Now he stepped back inside and found Harry lying across the kitchen chairs apparently asleep, his wife either didn't notice or think it was at all odd. But he was sure none of their children had done that.

Curious he walked over and tapped Harry's foot. "Good morning Harry, would you mind if I asked what you were doing?"

"Well Mrs. Weasley offered me breakfast but I've already eaten and am not hungry. She insisted though and says I have to stay at the table until I finish the plate, but as I said I'm not hungry so since I'll be here awhile I figured I should take a nap." Harry explained.

Molly didn't take kindly to his explanation. "Now you see here, you will do as you are told and eat your breakfast! We don't waste food in this house."

"Then why did you make it when I said I had already eaten?" Harry asked as innocently as he could. He could see Molly was already approaching an eruption. Her fuse was definitely shorter than he remembered.

Before she could though Arthur had taken her into the other room for a chat. Harry heard him discreetly cast a silencing spell. He briefly wondered what they were saying and wondered if he could speed up the twin's development of the extendable ears. But he figured that he'd find out one way or another soon enough.

While he was waiting for the elder Weasleys to return Ron strolled in the backdoor. They glared at each other but Harry caught Ron's eyes flicker down to the plate of food. "Potter."

"Weasley. Want another breakfast." Harry moved the plate towards him. He figured there wasn't much of a chance of Molly already trying to potion him up but if she had it would be amusing to see Ron eat them instead.

"Why? What did you do to it?" Ron asked. He was tempted to snatch the plate up, it looked so good.

"Nothing, but I've already eaten breakfast and I'm not hungry. Your mum insisted that I remain until it's all gone though." Harry explained.

A frown crossed Ron's face. He knew Harry was going to be the next Dark Lord and he had to be stopped. But surely taking the food wouldn't hurt. His stomach growled. He'd had three helpings for breakfast and been very content; surely a fourth would be even better.

His decision made Ron sat down and began to inhale the food, somehow managing to keep a glare focused on Harry as he went. The plate was clean in just moments. Ron belched and strutted out of the room, not even a word of thanks.

When the elder Weasleys returned Molly was pleased to see the empty plate. "See a proper English breakfast is just what you needed. Now if you'll give me your wand, since none of you can do magic over the summer we don't want you to be tempted."

"I don't have it. I gave it to Sirius back at the start of the summer." Harry said, in truth it was secured in a hidden wand holster.

Molly frowned, not at all pleased. Dumbledore had wanted his wand to put a few locator charms on it. For his own good of course. But that would have to wait she supposed. She called down the rest of the children and began assigning their chores for the day. Ron and Percy went out to the yard and began setting up the magic tent that they would be sleeping in for the next month.

Harry wasn't to surprised that he was paired with Ginny to make sure Ron's room was clean since Harry would be sleeping there. His plan was just to ignore Ginny while they did whatever cleaning was needed. That plan lasted until he opened the door to Ron's room. The smell was awful; it was like warm death rolled out of his room.

Ginny reacted first and slammed the door shut as they both retreated from the stench, gasping for breath. Ginny began to dry heave. "Merlin! That was awful."

"Does it always smell like that?" Harry asked. He knew whenever he had stayed at the burrow in the first time line that Ron had complained about having to clean his room but Harry hadn't ever thought it was that bad. It couldn't even be called habitable at that point.

"No." Ginny gasped out. "How could you share a dorm with that?"

"He wasn't that bad before, if he was we probably would have thrown him out the window. Come on lets see if the twins have something that can help with the smell." Harry suggested.

The twins were happy to loan them both a couple of potion robes they had gotten somewhere for protection. Harry guessed they had been scrounged up from the trash because they were discolored with a number of burns and smelled of spilt potions. Still much better than the stench from Ron's room though.

Unfortunately they didn't have anything to help with the smell.

Harry and Ginny stood before Ron's door in protective robes several sizes too big. Harry was sure they looked ridiculous. But most of his mind was focused on Ginny; he was finding it impossible to see the small girl as the mad woman they had known in the future. He supposed she wasn't as shy this time but those wonder filled eyes she kept watching him with. They reminded Harry much more of Dobby than of her future self.

They were both hesitant to open the door again. "Maybe we should ask my mum for help?"

"Let's ask your dad instead." Harry suggested, Arthur was definitely the more reasonable of the Weasley patents.

0-0

Arthur stood in front of his youngest son's door. Ginny and Harry had gotten him to see if he knew any air freshening charms because apparently Ron's room stank. He'd agreed to come and open the window for them to air it out. Children, always over reacting. They were even dressed in protective robes! Well it was nice to see them getting along and Harry acting like a child.

He opened the door and got two steps in before the stench registered. He gagged and stumbled back. Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him clear of the threshold before Ginny slammed the door shut. Unfortunately the smell had now invaded the hallway.

Arthur quickly cast several charms to clear the air before they could breathe properly again. "Good Merlin what was that?"

"No idea." Harry said.

"We told you it was bad." Ginny added.

"You did. I'll have to have a talk with Ron, I told him to clean his room yesterday." Arthur said as he thought about what to do. There was no way that he was sending Harry or one of his children into that smell. But he didn't want to go in either. "Dippy."

With a pop the Weasleys house elf appeared. "What can Dippy be doing for you sir?"

"Could you air out Ron's room? It smells like something died in there." Arthur asked.

"Dippy can be doing." She disappeared. Several minutes later the door opened and a sick looking Dippy stepped out. "Dippy is cleaning room and removing dead things."

"Dead things?" Arthur asked in surprise. Well that certainly explained the smell. "What was it? A raccoon?"

"Water bison." Dippy said.

"A water bison?" Arthur asked in disbelief.

"Parts of one." Dippy nodded.

Harry and Ginny poked their heads into the room; it looked clean and smelled normal. Harry crouched down. "Thank you Dippy."

Unsure how to deal with being thanked she vanished.

0-0

Crookshanks looked down at his bowl in displeasure. "_Mr. Mouse_!"

Dobby appeared with a frown at his newest name by the young cat. "What is being problem now?"

"_My bowl is empty again_."

Dobby looked in; the bowl was almost full except for a small spot in the center where Crookshanks had eaten to the bottom. With a sighed he shook the bowl. No matter how many times anyone had tried to explain it the young cat refused to understand that seeing the bottom of the bowl did not make it empty

Crookshanks pawed at the bowl. "Such powerful magic."

Before Dobby could decide if he should once again try and explain that the bowl hadn't been empty Crookshank's head snapped up and towards the front of the house. A moment later Dobby also sensed the intruders approaching. He was a bit annoyed that Crookshanks knew they were there before he had.

0-0

The three men strolled towards the house; they felt no need to conceal themselves. They were wizards after all; the muggles were as harmless as fish in a barrel, or a house elf. It was no different than stabbing a doll to them.

A quick charm saw the front door open. They stepped into the house; it was silent as a grave.

"I don't think anyone is here Bob."

"Should we torch the place anyways?"

"Nah lets wait a bit. Always fun to go through them muggle things. Wonder if they got any of those fancy robes like the last place." Bob said.

"I's telling ya thems was ladies undergarments ya was wearing."

"_Meow_."

The three men jumped and spun, wands pointed at…. a cat. "Bloody thing nearly scared the, well whatever I got left, out oh me."

"Hmm, you know I heard one of those forging places, you know the ones where the people are yellow and don't have no proper eyes, wells I hear they eat cat. Say it's rightly good too."

"You nutter that's dog, and it's the same place where they burry pots full of rotten cabbage and then eat it later. I ain't trying nuthin they eat."

"Meow." Crookshanks drew their attention again.

"Ya suppose it's trying to tell us something?"

"Like what?"

The three men were so focused on Crookshanks that they never realized that Dobby had appeared behind them with three cast iron skillets. Not until he used his magic to swing them into the intruders heads. They crumpled to the ground.

Dobby was pleased with his work. House elves rarely fought, but Harry, Hermione and Luna had insisted that he learn so that he was able to protect himself. Dobby had been so touched by their concern that he had thrown himself into his defense with what Sirius referred to as a frightening amount of determination. He had also commented that if more house elves ever figured it out wizards were screwed.

Crookshanks sniffed at one of the intruders before he relieved himself on the poor man.

"You is watching bad men, I is getting things ready to send them to Miss Boney." Dobby instructed Crookshanks before he left.

Moments later Dumbledore appeared outside. A quick charm showed three bodies lying in the sitting room. And since muggles couldn't defeat a wizard he concluded that they were the bodies of the Grangers. All according to plan, except those fools had forgotten to put up the Dark Mark before they left. He twitched his wand to cast it before he returned to Hogwarts. He would inform the DMLE what he had found when he went to visit one of Hogwarts brightest students. Such a tragedy.

He would then go an inform Harry, Dumbledore had been struck with inspiration, why wait until Harry returned to Hogwarts when he could tell the boy now! He'd have no choice but to seek comfort from the Weasleys!

Humming a happy tune he returned to Hogwarts.

0-0

Dumbledore had made sure that he looked appropriately remorseful at the news that he was delivering. Thankfully he had taken a number of muggle acting classes in his long life, oh the silly things they came up with, without magic.

He knocked on the kitchen door; he felt it added to the seriousness not to floo over.

"Albus." Molly called happily as she opened the door. "Won't you come in? Are you hungry? We've already eaten but I'm sure I can find something for you."

"I am afraid not, I must speak with the children. Would you be so kind as to gather them for me?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course." Molly called for her children and Harry.

Once they were all assembled Dumbledore began. "It is my sad duty to inform you that this evening Death Eaters attacked Miss Grangers home. She and her parents were killed. I am sorry Harry. I have already contacted the DMLE and informed them." He had decided quick and to the point was best.

Dumbledore took his leave before anyone could ask questions; he wanted Harry to immediately turn to the Weasleys for comfort. How he made it to the ward line without skipping he never knew.

There was a shocked silence in the kitchen. The elder Weasleys were watching Harry expecting a breakdown of some type. But Harry was more confused than anything else; he had been talking to Hermione moments before when he was called down. So whatever else happened he was sure that she was safe.

Harry took a moment to study the others reactions. The twins looked devastated, Percy not so much. While he didn't look pleased there was no real hint that he found it overly objectionable either. Harry put that down to him not having much personal contact with her.

Ginny seemed terrified, but again Harry wasn't sure of the exact reason. Probably hearing that a student had been killed at home. That would frighten most children.

Ron on the other hand looked annoyed.

It was true, annoyed and a bit confused fit Ron's feelings at that moment. He was upset that the mudblood had gone and gotten herself killed. He was supposed to rescues her and… well he sometimes forgot. His memories of the future were far from perfect. They waxed and waned randomly. But when they were clear he wrote down as much as he could remember.

Now who was he going to get to do his school work? Sure when he had his memories he could normally bull shit an essay or two but it was still so much work. Maybe Loony? She was supposed to be smart. Yeah and then she could become his practice girlfriend. Not that he really understood why he would need or want one. They seemed pretty boring.

After Harry had studied them for a moment he pulled his mirror out of his pocket. "Hermione Granger."

The Weasleys watched, unsure of what Harry was doing until…

"Honestly Harry we just hung up. Did you really miss me that much?" Hermione voice came from the mirror. A bit quieter than normal but still clearly audible.

"Always but I had a very important question. Any idea why Dumbledore just showed up and said that you and your parents were killed by Death Eaters in your home this evening."

There was a pause. "He said what?"

"Dumbledore just told us that you and your parents were dead." Harry repeated.

"I don't know why he would say that. We're all fine, a bit tired from the trip but alive." Hermione said.

Arthur snapped out of his shock. He looked over Harry's should to see an image of Hermione in the mirror. "Pardon me Miss Granger but you said that you and your parents are alright and on a trip?"

"Yes Mr. Weasley. We left this afternoon for our annual vacation. I have no idea why the Headmaster thinks we are dead." Hermione answered politely.

"I see, would it be possible for me to speak with your parents?" Arthur asked.

Hermione handed her mirror to her parents and they assured Mr. Weasley that they were fine and indeed on a trip. They also said they had no idea why anyone would think them dead and asked that he update them if he heard anything else.

Arthur passed the mirror back to Harry before he left to go and tell the DMLE that the Grangers were alive and well on vacation.

0-0

Madam Bones should have known things were going to be complicated when Dumbledore first reported three dead muggles and the Dark Mark. "Alright. From the beginning."

Several members of the DMLE sat around the table. One flipped to the start of a rather hefty report. "This evening at 6:03 Dumbledore contacted us saying that he had discovered three dead muggles and the Dark Mark above the home of one of his students. His reason for going there tonight was apparently to speak with the student about some school matter.

"We sent a team of aurors to check things out. The Dark Mark was present above the home and they dispelled it as soon as they arrived. They found the house secure and were about to use the unlocking charm to enter when a house elf appeared and advised them against doing so."

"You said they were muggles, why was a house elf there?" Asked Ervin, a pureblood who had used family connections to make it into the DMLE.

The first flipped to a different section of the report. "They have a daughter who attends Hogwarts, she is friends with Harry Potter and he offered the use of an elf to maintain their property while they are away on vacation.

"From what we have learned so far three men were paid to kill the Grangers this evening. It appears that they were unaware that the Grangers left for holiday this afternoon."

"Or someone wanted to set them up." Ervin suggested. In the past he had made no attempt to hide his disdain for anything not pureblood.

"Doubtful. Once they entered the house and discovered it empty one of them suggested that they set it on fire. The house elf had been charged with keeping the home neat and decided that a fire would make a rather large mess so it knocked them out." The first Auror finished.

"We should arrest that elf and have it exterminated! How dare it attack wizards." Ervin was pleased to see several other people nod their agreement.

"No one will be touching that elf." Madam Bones said. "It was fully within its rights to protect the property it was at. Have we found out what happened to the Grangers yet?"

"Yes, Arthur Weasley came by earlier. His family is currently taking care of Harry Potter, a friend of the Granger's daughter. They had some way to communicate, the whole family left for holiday several hours before their house was attacked. All are fine." Another aurora reported.

"Well at least that's a bit of good news. Anything else on the three intruders?" Madam Bones asked.

"All small time thugs suspected Death Eater involvement but nothing firm enough to use before. Also all of them were poisoned."

"When?" Madam Bones demanded.

"Our best guess is sometime yesterday evening. It was a nasty contact poison, the gold they were paid in was laced with it, thankfully they still had some and we were able to work up an antidote. We've already dispatched people to inform the pub where they spent most of the gold and track the coins."

"Bloody hell." Madam Bones knew the last thing they needed was people dropping dead from poisoned gold. This mess was already far bigger than it should have been. "Tell me the poison has a short life."

"It does, only about twelve hours. We barely found enough on the coins for identification. In a few more hours they'll be clean."

"At least that will limit exposure. Someone get me Dumbledore, I have a few questions for him."

0-0

Dumbledore couldn't believe it. His carefully laid plans had failed! There was only one explanation, James Potter had somehow learned it the attack and intervened. That had to be it, Dumbledore did not for a moment believe that the Grangers had just decided to go on vacation and picked today of all days. No they were warned. They had gotten away by just hours. To top off the disaster the DMLE was now watching him closely because of his report.

0-0

The Grangers were understandably upset by the near miss which lead to a long conversation with Hermione about wards. Before the evening was finished they had decided to get some as soon as they returned home

0-0

Two days later Dumbledore looked at the newspaper and was filled with anger. Eight people had died from the poisoned gold and it had only taken him a moment to rationalize it as being Miss Grangers fault. She was the one leading Harry down a dark path, if she was just a good little girl and did what he said this wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have needed to hire those people and then plan their deaths. So many lives lost because of that spoiled little girl.

0-0

Harry was just finishing breakfast when Dumbledore arrived and asked to borrow him for some errand. Molly quickly agreed and before he knew it he was out the door and walking next to the Headmaster. "So Harry you must be very pleased."

"About Hermione not being dead?" Harry asked, he assumed that was what Dumbledore was talking about since it had been the last conversation between them. Then again you could never really tell with the old man. "Of course I'm happy that my friend isn't dead."

"Yes, it was very lucky that they decided to take a sudden holiday, just hours before they would have been attacked." Dumbledore said.

Harry didn't know what Dumbledore was playing at but he wasn't going to give him anything and just nodded in agreement. "So where are we going?"

"To visit an old friend of mine." Dumbledore said as they reached the ward line. Without warning he took Harry's arm and apparated them away. A bit of revenge for Harry not doing as he was supposed to.

Harry was left gasping from the unexpected travel. "Warn a guy next time!"

"Yes yes." Dumbledore waved him off, studying the surrounding houses for a moment before he lead Harry towards one.

It really shouldn't have been a surprise when Slughorn answered the door. After all Dumbledore would need a new Potion Professor. The man reluctant invited them in. He and Dumbledore spoke for several minutes about nothing important.

Then Dumbledore excused himself. Slughorn looked over Harry, judging his worth. "So the incredible Harry Potter. It is a pleasure to meet you. I remember your mother; she was always one of the top students in her year for potions. But alas her heart was never in them, she preferred charms. So tell me where do your talents lay?"

"Considering the horrible teachers at Hogwarts I couldn't even guess." Harry said before he leaned closer to Slughorn. "Listen I have no idea why Dumbledore brought me here but be careful with him. There are rumors that he had Snape had a big falling out just before Snape died. Dumbledore now says my father somehow came back to life and killed him. If you want my advice flee, nothing good can come of dealing with the Headmaster."

Slughorn suddenly looked very pale. "I see, thank you for the warning."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few more minutes before Dumbledore finally returned and left with Harry.

0-0

When Arthur returned home that day he found Harry on the kitchen floor scrubbing away. "You don't need to do that Harry; Molly can take care of the floor in a moment."

"She's the one who told me to scrub it." Harry grumbled. "Dumbledore came and got me this morning, took me to some old man's house and then brought be back. Apparently I was supposed to help him convince the guy to come teach potions. Would have been nice if someone had mentioned that to me."

Arthur frowned and went to speak with his wife, sure that there was more to the story than what Harry had told him. To his surprise there really wasn't. When he asked Molly if anyone had bother to tell Harry what was expected of him she just waved the question away. Well that was no good. "Alright, I'm going to take Harry out to my shed and have a long talk with him."

He went back to the kitchen, collected Harry and led him out to his shed. All manner of muggle inventions littered the crowded space, most half disassembled. Arthur idly picked up part of an electrical outlet.

"You know I'm fascinated by muggle technology. It's amazing the things they've managed to do without magic, even things we haven't managed yet." He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say to Harry and talking about muggles always seemed easier. "But I suppose growing up with them it's not as impressive to you. I wish at least one of my children had inherited my love of the muggle world. But Bill's calling was curse breaking, Charlie loves the wild creatures. Percy loves rules and regulations, the twins love pranks, Ron loves… eh."

"Food." Harry suggested, and then to be polite added. "And quidditch."

Arthur nodded his head, his youngest sons appetite was the stuff of legends at the Weasley table. "You know I used to have a game I'd play with them. I'd ask them what a certain muggle deceive did and see if they remembered. Though sometimes I'd get carried away with it. I'd even act like a muggle and see if they could spot what I did wrong. I wanted to make sure they could manage in the muggle world if they had to. As a father you do whatever you can to help your children. I know I'm not your father and you aren't my son but I'd still like to help. You're not very happy here are you?"

"I'm not sir; to me this isn't much different than legal kidnapping. There is no reason for me to be here besides Dumbledore wanting to keep control over me." Harry said. He decided to see if he could figure out exactly where Arthur Weasley stood both in relation to him and Dumbledore.

"Isn't that a bit harsh Harry?" Arthur asked.

"Not really, Sirius was fully cleared of any lasting damage from exposure to the dementors. Dumbledore pushed that law just before Sirius could get custody and the other families who volunteered all suddenly backed out. It smells like a set up. Plus your family is getting paid a lot to have me here." Harry said.

"Well children aren't cheap." Arthur pointed out; not at all pleased by the turn the conversation was taking.

"200 Galleons. All my school supplies are paid by Sirius so I'd really like to know how I cost that much." Harry already knew that was enough to feed the whole Weasley family for a number of months.

"Well…" Arthur didn't have a clue about the money; he hadn't bothered to look at it beyond that they would receive a small amount to help with Harry's care. But 200 galleons was well beyond what was needed and it was understandable that Harry might have taken them receiving such a large amount the wrong way.

"Not to mention that you get it every month, not just the one that I am here. That's 2,400 galleons for watching me for at most six weeks a year. You can understand why that sounds like ransom, or theft." Harry knew the amount had shocked Mr. Weasley.

Arthur sat heavily on a stool, 2,400 galleons was a sizable portion of what he made annually. It could put his remaining children through Hogwarts for the year with that much. And most of it was being paid to them when they didn't even have Harry.

He could hardly blame Harry for thinking ill of them, but someone somewhere must have made a mistake; there was no other logical explanation. But Harry clearly believed it to be true. "I honestly have no idea about how much we are being given to watch after you but I assure you if it is anywhere near what you claim I'll put a stop to it."

Harry considered him for a moment. "Alright, I believe that you didn't know about the money. And I will acknowledge that you honestly believe that you are helping me by participating in this joke of Dumbledore's."

There was another thing that Arthur had trouble understanding. Dumbledore was a great man who had always done right by the Weasleys. Harry's distaste for the man, even when he considered that Harry was displeased with the new law, didn't add up to him. "Why do you dislike Dumbledore so much Harry?"

Now there was a loaded question. Harry considered his answer for a few moments and decided which incidents to use. "He has a disturbing interest in me and seems to feel that it is his right to dictate my life." Harry held up his hand to stop Arthur from interrupting. "Yes he claims that it is for my own good but the results of his actions speak otherwise. I don't believe Dumbledore could make so many or such large mistakes which leaves me with the idea that he is purposely doing it.

"He sent Hagrid to retrieve me after my parents were killed, but didn't come himself. He must have known that there was no remaining danger but how? He took me from Sirius; I can understand that as he thought that Sirius was my parent's secret keeper. But he also never pushed for a trial for Sirius, happy to see him shoved away because everyone knew he was guilty.

"At that point Dumbledore should have sent me to my godmother, Alice Longbottom. He knew that if Sirius wasn't able to take care of me she was next. He didn't, even though they were also protected and hidden. Instead he took me to my aunt's house and left me there. He either didn't check on me or he did and didn't care. Either is inexcusable. Those are just the major example from before I found out about the wizarding world."

Again Arthur wasn't sure how to respond. He was saved from having to when Ginny arrived and announced that dinner was ready.

0-0

The next day Arthur decided to forgo his lunch and check on the amount of money that they were receiving from Harry. He walked down to records and quickly had the proper papers brought up. He was shocked to see that Harry was correct in the amount being given to them. It was staggering, especially when he realized that it was Dumbledore who had signed off on the amount.

When he inquired about it he quickly learned that the amount was set and could not be altered. That had lead him to contacting Dumbledore which had gotten Arthur nowhere as Dumbledore just kept saying that Harry could afford it, his family could use the money and that Harry wouldn't care if he found out. Arthur didn't mention that Harry already knew.

Instead after work he went to Gringotts and was able to establish a separate vault where the money for watching Harry would go. He'd withdraw a reasonable amount when they actually watched Harry. Then he had approached Sirius and informed him what he had done. Sirius suggested that he tell Harry.

That night after Dinner he took Harry to the shed again and told him about the vault. To his surprise after that they had a pleasant conversation about new muggle technology.

0-0

Molly smiled as she watched Harry and Ginny walk towards the creek that ran near their property. She had sent them out to go catch some fresh fish. It didn't matter if they did but she was sure it would force them to spend the whole day together.

She turned back to her baking and screamed. There were paw prints in it again! She spun around wildly looking for any sign of the miserable creature that had ruined her dough. Where was the worthless house elf, she'd ordered it to make sure there weren't any extra animals in the house and it couldn't even do that right!

A growl escaped her lips as she vanished her ruined work and started again. It would have been faster to let the worthless elf cook but the novelty of ordering it around had started to fade. Now she mostly had it doing the less pleasant cleaning jobs.

Crookshanks watched in amusement as he plotted his next move.

0-0

The creek ran lazily in the hot summer afternoon. Harry and Ginny sat under an old tree and waited in its shade. Ginny kept stealing glances at Harry and then hurriedly looking away. It was annoying, especially because when Ginny forgot to be shy around him she wasn't so bad.

Ginny had been the topic of a number of conversations between Harry, Hermione and Luna. Her personality was so different from what it would become that she was like a different person. Actually she probably was. Ginny hadn't been possessed by Riddle's diary yet and didn't show any of the personality traits that she had later in the first time line. Unlike Ron who was doing an excellent job of mimicking his older self.

They had finally decided that as much as they hated the Ginny they knew this one was, so far, innocent and could possibly be saved from what she had become. Hopefully making sure that she didn't get ahold of the diary this time around would go a long way in keeping history from repeating itself.

Of course Harry also thought that crushing her ideas about him would do wonders for her as well. Or at least make her less annoying. Now seemed as good of time as any to get to work. "Ginny?"

A small squeak let him know that she had heard him and was listening. "Who am I Ginny?"

"You're The-Boy-Who-Lived of course!" Ginny happily replied.

"No, that's a myth. I'm Harry." He said.

"But everyone knows…" Ginny began.

"Nothing. Everyone knew Sirius was guilty but he wasn't. The facts are that no one knows what happened that night. There is no proof that I even survived the killing curse." Harry said.

"But your scar!" Ginny protested.

"Is a scar, most people have at least one somewhere. It doesn't prove anything but that I got cut there when I was little. Personally I think it's far more likely my mum killed Voldemort." He rolled his eyes when she squeaked again and shivered. "Besides how was a baby supposed to do that? But people wanted a live hero over a dead one. It made them feel better so that stupid story about me started.

"I've seen your collection of Harry Potter books, they are all fiction. Before I meet Luna and Hermione I lived under the stairs, hell your chicken coop is bigger than where I grew up." He saw the shocked and disbelieving look on her face and hammered it home. "The-Boy-Who-Lived is just a myth people made up to make themselves feel better. I'm just Harry. I also know you have a crush on me."

Ginny looked ready to pass out and tried to bolt for it but Harry's hand shot out and caught her. "Listen I'm sorry but I really don't feel that way about you. I don't even know you beyond the girl who is more likely to squeak than speak to me. I'm not even looking for a new romance. But Luna spoke highly of you so I'm willing to give you a shot as a friend as long as you don't act like your mum or Percy."

It was true that Luna had told them that before Hogwarts Ginny had been vastly different and a much better friend than she would become.

Ginny was torn, she wanted to run and hide. Harry knew about her crush and he didn't return it! Not only that but he said the boy she loved wasn't real! It was too much; she sat back down and pulled her knees up to her chin. She wanted to cry, to yell and scream but somehow she just felt to numb to do any of that.

To his surprise Harry realized that he actually felt bad for her, the Ginny he knew would have ignored him and insisted that he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. This one seemed to be considering his words. "Look here is my mirror, call Luna. I'm horrible at explaining things; maybe she can do a better job."

Ginny took the mirror numbly and Harry excused himself. He walked far enough away that he couldn't overhear them. He briefly considered changing into his cat form; they really needed to come up with names, but decided he'd rather not hear whatever was going to be said. Besides Luna would clue him in later to anything important.

0-0

Harry returned after what he hoped was enough time for them to have had a good discussion. Ginny still seemed rather down when she handed back the mirror and remained silent for the rest of the day.

That night Luna explained their conversation and her attempts to persuade Ginny that Harry wasn't some mythical figure. She felt that she had made good progress but Hermione was skeptical. Of the three Hermione was the least trusting that Ginny could change.

0-0

Ron growled as he read over his journal filled with notes about the future. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for him to fully understand what was happening. What he was sure of was that Potter was the Dark Lord he remembered who had plunged the world into a war with the muggles.

But he couldn't just kill Potter, he needed to discredit him, humiliate him. Ron never realized that those feelings were his own and not from the future. They told him to do what he wanted so he saw no reason to investigate them.

A pain shot through Ron's mind, he doubled over for a moment before he focused on his task. He was looking for anything that he could remember about Potter and Ginny. Something had happened. Ginny had been very quiet ever since she had gone fishing with that bastard and he needed to figure out what had happened. And he still owed Potter for the trouble that he had gotten into for not cleaning his room. It had been a real pain to get those water bison parts to stink the place up.

Not that it really mattered; Ron would have his revenge when they returned to school. He couldn't risk anything being connected to his family until after everyone realized what a monster Potter was. Still he should probably do something to protect Ginny. But as his memories of the future faded again his ideas slipped away.

He cursed; he knew he should have written it down. All he remembered was that it had something to do with the Hogwarts Express. Maybe a portkey, yes that sounded right. A portkey… that would stick Potter to the outside of the train!

0-0

Theodore Nott panted as he finished his latest training session. His father had been hard on him for his failures throughout the year and was determined to insure they did not happen again. It wasn't helping that among the old Death Eater crowd Malfoy was bragging that his son was slowly positioning himself to be of use when it was time to move against Potter.

Well he would never get the chance as Theodore was determined to be the one who ended Potter. He would claim the glory for the House of Nott and rub Draco's nose in his failure. He smiled as he thought of everything that he had come up with during his punishments.

Most would just be to soften him up, embarrass him. It would start as soon as Potter stepped onto the platform. Oh yes it would be a good year.

0-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Once again no one but myself has looked over this so all mistakes are my own.)


	37. The more things change…

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Seven: The more things change…

0-0

The orchard at the burrow was quiet as Harry and Ginny walked through it, they had been sent out to 'just check on things' which he supposed meant walk around. Ginny had been withdrawn after her talk with Luna but over the last week she had opened up more and to Harry's surprise began treating him more or less normally. She still shot him odd looks and occasionally became tongue tied but it was much better than before.

Hermione had also suggested that Harry attempt to limit her exposure to Molly, who seemed to be a driving force behind the old Ginny's crazy ideas. The easiest way for Harry to do that was to invite himself and Ginny along when her father worked in the shed.

To his surprise Ginny actually seemed to enjoy a number of the muggle items her father had. Arthur was thrilled one of his children had an active interest in muggle technology. Harry decided that there were far worse people Ginny could turn out like than her father.

During one conversation where Arthur was explaining the modifications that he had made to the car Harry suggested adding something so that if a muggle ever got ahold of it none of the magic bits would work. He and Ginny spent two days helping him do just that.

0-0

Harry was dreading Ginny's birthday because it seemed perfect for her mum to try something. Crookshanks had promised to keep an eye on her without doing anything to ruin the party. Of course the young cat rationalized that he could still make a few messes and promptly knocked over a bag of flour that covered Molly, head to toe.

A very excited Ginny spent the morning running around the house, she reminded Harry a bit of Luna when she had a large amount of sugar, but with less biting. Because it was such a nice day the party was held outside and went well.

Percy got Ginny a book titled '_The Pathway of Prefects'_ which Harry guessed was just as pompous as it sounded. Ron got her a book called _1001 charms every wife should know_. Molly gushed over what a thoughtful gift it was. As soon as they turned away Ginny tossed the book under the table with a disgusted face.

Arthur went next and gave Ginny a book on flying techniques. Harry had let slip to the man about Ginny's interest in flying, without mentioning that she would sometimes slip out and sneak a broom from the shed. Hopefully it would help keep her focused on something besides him.

Harry handed over a small wrapped parcel. "This is from Luna, Hermione and me."

Ginny tore off the paper and found a leather bound book with her name on it. "Thank you."

"It's part of a set, what you write in one appears in the other." Harry explained.

Molly gave them a warm smile which came off a bit creepy. "And who has the other one dear? You?"

Harry laughed. "That would be silly. We'll both be at Hogwarts so Ginny can talk to me any time."

"Then who?" Ginny asked.

"Open it and see." Harry suggested.

Ginny did, then launched herself at Harry and tackled him to the ground in a hug to rival Hermione's. Maybe it was just a girl thing? Ginny held onto him for longer than he was comfortable with but not as long as he had feared.

"Well who got the other?" Ron demanded.

"Bill!" Ginny said happily as she opened the diary and showed them the first page.

"Well you said you missed talking to him." Harry said. The diary served multiple purposes. Since time seemed to be resisting changes they hoped that by giving Ginny this diary that would write back it would keep her from getting the other. Also Bill had always seemed to be a good person and they hoped he'd be a better influence than Molly. Talking almost every day might just keep Ginny from becoming what she did.

"That was very thoughtful of you Harry." Molly said warmly as if she could already picture their little babies running around.

0-0

To Harry's displeasure on the day that he was going to get the diary from Malfoy, Molly announced that she had made a deal with Lockhart. Harry was going to appear with him at the book signing. She kept going on about how it was such a wonderful opportunity. Worse Arthur had already left for work so Harry couldn't appeal to him for help.

Solemnly Harry followed them to Diagon Alley. The only bright spot was that Hedwig and Crookshanks would be there to help with the plan to deal with Lockhart. While being forced to pose with him would be annoying it could only help the plan.

As they walked towards Flourish and Blots Harry noticed the faded wanted posters with the strange wooden doll that Luna had accidently made. It seemed a number of stores had chipped in to offer a reward for the doll that would occasionally assault a shopper.

Harry groaned as he stepped into the book store and was grabbed by Lockhart, who dragged him over to a little set up in the corner. The fraud started going on about how great he was as photographers snapped pictures. Harry made sure to look as miserable as possible.

It didn't take long for Lockhart to give him the perfect opening to start his plan. "I am thrilled to announce that I have agreed to take over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year. I'm sure young Harry is thrilled that I will be teaching him and his friends this year, aren't you my boy?"

"Why would I be thrilled that we will once again have a substandard Defense Professor? You are nothing but a fraud, now if you were teaching a class on acting or fictional writing I might be interested. Then again from what I have seen and read you can't do those any better." Harry said. The store had gone deathly quiet when he had begun to speak and the silence stretched out over several seconds after he finished.

Molly tried to make her way forward but the reporters suddenly came back alive and blocked her way shouting questions to Harry. Lockhart looked uncomfortable, somewhere between disbelief and rage. He put a hand forcefully on Harry's shoulder, presumably to get him away from the reporters before he could do any more damage but Harry shrugged it off. "It might interest you to know that Lockhart has put every one of his books on the required list for every student at Hogwarts. I know that first years and seventh years do not learn the same thing so this is clearly a case of him trying to pad his book sales at the expense of our education."

Lockhart made a grab for Harry to shut him up, but Harry easily stepped out of the way. Lockhart crashed into his own display of books that toppled down on him.

"I have read some of his books and they are filled with discrepancies, misinformation and outright lies. But don't take my word for it, read them yourselves and see how many you can find. To get more people to do that I am offering 500 galleons to whoever sends me the most complete list of errors from Lockhart's books by Halloween. Please send all lists to my godfather Sirius Black." Harry smiled as the reporters all worked feverishly to copy down the information about his contest.

The plan was twofold. First it would embarrass and discredit Lockhart. Two, people who wanted to win the prize would need to learn how to deal with some of the creatures Lockhart mentioned to figure out what he did wrong. At least that was the hope. Harry had made the prize big enough that hopefully a large number of people would take a shot at it.

"Mr. Potter, you say Gideon Lockhart is a fraud?" One reporter shouted.

"Yes. I have no doubt that my owl is more skilled in defense then he is. Anyone who is familiar with the creatures he talks about knows that his methods would either not work on them or are fictitious. He uses a blasting curse to deal with a non-corporeal creature and a fictional charm to turn a werewolf human again. If you can get past the number of mistakes and his love to talk about himself the books can be entertaining. But they are still fiction." Harry said. He was surprised that Lockhart was still busy trying to extract himself from the pile of books.

Before Harry could continue he saw something crawling along the ceiling. The wooden puppet that Luna had accidently conjured slowly turned its head completely around to watch him. A cry rang out through the bookstore. One that filled every Diagon shop owner with dread. "Papaaaaaa!"

The puppet fell onto Lockhart and snatched his wand before it dashed for the door, knocking over several people in its haste.

Lockhart finally managed to get to his feet. "This book signing is over!"

0-0

Dobby was annoyed, he had watched as bad old master for the diary just has Harry had instructed him. Bad old master had just slipped it from his pocket when the strange wooden boy had run through the crowd. Dobby didn't care about the half of a dozen things the wooden boy had taken in the confusion but it had also grabbed the diary.

It wasn't difficult to follow the wooden boy back to his nest. Dobby had to admit it looked very comfortable. But Dobby wasn't there for pleasantries. "Dobby is needing that diary little wooden boy."

The puppet looked at the intruder in his home. Then down at one of its newest prizes. "Papa?"

"Dobby is not being wooden boy's papa." Dobby said, every sense he had was screaming danger. His answer didn't seem to please the wooden boy. "Is you wanting to trade?"

"Trade?" The puppet asked.

"Yes, Dobby can be getting you something else and you is giving Dobby diary. What is you wanting?" Dobby thought a trade would be much better than a fight.

The wooden boy spun and begun digging through his nest until he found what he wanted more of. He turned and held it out for Dobby to examine. Dobby's eyes widened. "Dobby is understanding."

0-0

"This wasn't what we agreed to!" Lockhart's head yelled from the floo. "You promised Potter would make me look good! A few nice words about how lucky they all were to be taught by me! Instead he humiliated me, called me a fraud and made some stupid contest to prove it! You broke the contract and I want my money back. Oh and the goblins agree with me. Seems you don't have enough in your vaults to cover it though so you can expect them to be seeing you soon!"

Molly sat back heavily. It was impossible, yes she'd taken most of what Lockhart had paid her from the vault but they still had all the money coming from Harry. They should have had more than enough to cover the broken contract.

She'd have to go to Gringotts and smooth things over. Why couldn't Harry just do what he was told? Worse he had disappeared before she'd even been able to lay into him for his actions! Oh she was going to tan his hide when she found him!

0-0

Arthur was just about to head off for lunch when Harry unexpectedly walked through his door. One look told him that he probably wasn't going to like why Harry was there. "I'm guessing that you didn't just stop by to have lunch did you?"

"Afraid not." Harry sat in the seat Arthur motioned towards. "Mrs. Weasley apparently scheduled some publicity stunt today with that fraud Lockhart. She didn't even mention it to me until we were leaving to get our school supplies."

Arthur listened as Harry explained what had happened. "Now Harry I understand you were upset about not being told but calling the man a fraud in front of the press and humiliating him was uncalled for."

"Mr. Weasley had I been informed beforehand of what was happening I could have told you about the contest to prove Lockhart a fraud. Which he is. He has no business teaching children and I won't have my education sabotaged by substandard professors. I will also not be used for others profits. Before I came here Lockhart was speaking with your wife. Apparently she got paid a substantial amount for renting me out!

"Lockhart tried to reclaim the money for the broken contract but she had already removed enough that your vault could not cover the loss." Harry explained.

Arthur realized that he wasn't speaking with Harry but the future Lord Potter, a very angry Lord Potter. That and the trouble that was sure to come from Gringotts for a lack of funds to repay the contract. This was turning into a very bad day.

Harry did feel a bit sorry for Arthur but he had seen the chance to improve his control while forced to remain with the Weasleys. "Since the contract was broken because of me I will cover whatever penalties came from it on the condition that I am informed before I am rented out for some publicity sham."

Arthur didn't have many choices but to accept. And it wasn't unreasonable, Harry should be informed and he would be paying for his actions. "I accept."

"Good, Sirius will meet you at Gringotts to take care of everything." Harry said.

0-0

An hour later Arthur left Gringotts after getting his family's finances straightened out. He would have to ask Molly where all the money had gone. It was a very large amount, more than they'd use in a month. If Harry hadn't offered to pay for his, well mistake wasn't the correct word. Behavior he supposed, if Harry hadn't paid for his behavior they would have been in big trouble.

Of course while they were there Sirius had made the offer to let all of them come and stay at his house the day before the children left. He even agreed to let Ron and Percy set up the tent just outside the backdoor. Arthur was sure it was just so he could spend a little more time with Harry but Sirius did live much closer to Kings Cross station than they did and it would make the trip easier. Also considering the considerable sum of money he had just accepted there really wasn't any way for him to turn down the offer.

He was sure Molly wouldn't be happy, but she had helped put them in this situation so she could damn deal with it.

0-0

Harry had decided to speak with Arthur before he slipped away and went to Potter Manor to check on Dobby and the diary. "How did it go?"

"Dobby is getting the diary and putting it into special box." Dobby said proudly.

A quick peek in the window Hermione had put in the box showed the diary just has Harry remembered it. "Excellent work. Thank you Dobby."

0-0

As soon as Arthur returned home he was assaulted by Molly ranting about Harry's behavior. Yes this was not going to be an enjoyable evening. He cut her off mid-sentence about how Harry's behavior was all because of Sirius. He informed her what had happened and was forced to silence her when she began to rant again.

It was over an hour later before he felt that they had talked everything out. He wasn't happy that Molly had been trying to make contracts for appearances by Harry without telling either of them but he couldn't fault her for using the money from Lockhart to help by their children school supplies.

As he predicted she hadn't been happy about him accepting the offer for them to stay with Sirius the night before the children left for school but he put his foot down.

0-0

Ron was up late the night before they would all go to stay with Sirius. He wanted to finish the portkey that would stick Potter to the outside of the train. He had to ride outside so it was only fair Potter did as well. It would also give him the ride alone with Granger and Loony. He figured he could convince them to finish his summer work for him.

He admired his handiwork. It would activate not long after the train had left.

"Burning the midnight oil?" Percy asked. He had to admit spending the last month with his youngest brother hadn't been as bad as he had imagined. He had plenty of peace and quiet to work and Ron seemed to be much more studious than he had expected. He felt proud, despite all of the trouble that Potter was causing Ron was still doing his best.

"Yeah, I'll be finished soon." Ron said absently.

"Good, remember sleep is also important." Percy said before he retired for the night.

0-0

Harry had barely stepped out of the floo at Number 12 when he was tackled by Hermione and Luna. Molly wasn't happy that they were there or so… touchy, with her daughters future husband. She was somewhat mollified when the other girls took Ginny to see the room the three of them would be sharing.

A quick look from Hermione insured that Harry knew to follow them as well. Their room was almost identical to how it had been last time when just Hermione and Ginny were sharing it. The main difference now was that one of the beds had been replaced with a set of bunk beds.

One of the first things Ginny noticed was the stuffed animal on Luna's bunk. It looked a bit like a shaggy bison with brown and black hair. There were noticeable differences however, the single horn on its head, the flat hairy tail and extra set of legs. Still she couldn't help but coo over how adorable it was.

As soon as she tried to pick it up though she knew something was wrong. It was much heavier than she expected. Despite being as big as a cat it felt like it weighed several times more. When it yawned Ginny shrieked and tossed it back onto the bed before scrambling away. "What is that?!"

Luna calmly walked over and scooped the creature up in her arms. "This is Ringo and I will thank you not to get him jumping on the bed again."

Harry looked over the creature, its six legs were stubby, no longer than his hand, each with three toes. He had his doubts that it could jump at all. "Luna is that a…?"

"Crumpled Horned Snorkack? Yes he is. I've already redesigned his Quibbler card." Luna said happily.

"They're real?" Ginny asked in disbelief. Her mum had always said they were just silly made up creatures, like most things in the Quibbler.

"Well of course he is. Daddy and I found him on our expedition. I was eating an apple and he just wondered over for a bite. We found the rest of his, herd? We haven't figured out what to call a group of them yet, but he seemed to have developed a liking for me and refused to let us go without him." Luna explained.

Hermione smirked at Harry and Ginny's shocked expressions. She had gone through the same thing the day before when she had arrived. Crookshanks had taken one look at Ringo and declared that he would make a fine mount.

Harry reached out to pet the strange creature. He found that hidden among the fur were a number of silver quills. Ringo's horn wasn't actually crumpled though, instead Luna explained that it was hollow with another horn already growing inside. When the out horn broke off whatever pieces were left would dry up and flake off. Giving it the appearance of having a crumpled horn.

After a moment of hesitation Ginny approached Ringo and began to stroke his head. Harry stepped back while the younger girl lavished attention on Ringo, they had already agreed that they wouldn't bother with anything important until that night after everyone else went to sleep.

0-0

Molly was less than pleased when she met Ringo, even after Luna explained that he was at least as clean as a cat and a herbivore she continued to shoot him glares throughout dinner. Ringo didn't seem to notice, instead focused on a bowl of watermelon and apple chunks next to Crookshank's own bowl.

After dinner Sirius caught Harry, Hermione and Luna and led them to the office. "I've been trying to clean up the backlog of, well just about everything from when Dumbledore was listed as your magic guardian. He seems to have neglected the basic upkeep of files. While I was going through things I came across this."

Sirius handed Harry a letter, he recognized the writing as his father's. They had discovered a number of things at Potter manor, letters, notes, random doodles by both his parents. He broke the seal and began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_If you found this letter it means your mother and I didn't survive. I have been sitting here for hours trying to think of what to say to you and I haven't come up with much. I'll start with some advice that I feel will be important in your life. Learn to forgive. I didn't and it damn near ruined mine. It doesn't matter how much someone else has wronged you, they had their own reasons and you need to be able to give them a second chance. I was horrible in school to Severus Snape, to this day I regret the way I treated him and I hope you'll learn from my mistakes and lead a better life. _

_Being stubborn, not learning to forgive and understanding that others have had a much worse life than you have, not being willing to give others a second chance is one of the first steps to going dark. But you're a Potter, we're a forgiving bunch so I'm sure you'll do fine. _

_I am also conflicted about how I hope you have been raised, Sirius is my best friend but I'm not sure I trust him to raise a dog let alone my child. Take anything he might say or teach you with a grain of salt._

_Something else you should know won't be needed for some years. When your eyes turn towards girls remember that we Potters need a red head to keep us inline. Hopefully you'll have one that has been your friend for a while so it will make the choice easier. Someone from a light family that can help you._

_Finally trust Dumbledore. I know he can be very outlandish at times, his actions may seem to make no sense but your mother and I trust him and we want you to as well. Even if it seems that he doesn't have your best interests at heart he does, he just sees the whole picture and does what will help you the most in the long run._

_I will keep updating this letter for as long as I can._

_Love,_

_James Potter._

Harry looked at the letter in disbelief. "This can't be real, I mean the writing looks right but it sounds nothing like my father."

Hermione cast a quick charm on the parchment. "It's a fake, the parchment is less than three years old."

"What do you want to bet Dumbledore put it in my vault to try and get me back under his thumb?" Harry asked.

"Silly Harry no one will take that bet." Luna said.

"We'll talk about this later, for now let's go so Mrs. Weasley doesn't start snooping around for us." Harry suggested.

0-0

Nott smiled, it had cost a lot but he had gotten what he wanted. Now he just needed to set it up tomorrow and his revenge would begin. He quickly decided that he'd rig it up right at the entrance to the platform. It wasn't the best location because it was entirely possible that Potter would arrive by floo but it needed to be tied into an existing ward.

Should that fail he was almost certain he understood enough to rig it to their compartment door. He hoped. And if he couldn't he was sure he'd find some place at Hogwarts to set it up.

0-0

Harry wasn't very surprised when he checked the door to his room before he snuck out to meet Hermione and Luna in the attic, and found a simple charm placed my Molly to tell her if he left the room. He'd found a number of them at the Burrow and between Dobby and Crookshanks they had driven her nearly insane by setting them off when he was nowhere nearby.

By the time he made it to the attic Hermione and Luna had already set up the ritual to officially make Ringo Luna's familiar. Hedwig and Crookshanks stood off to the side and watched with interest. The ritual went fine and everyone leaned in expectantly.

Ringo looked up at them. "_Momma Luna I'm hungry_."

"_It lives_!" Crookshanks cheered.

"_He was already alive_." Hedwig pointed out.

"_He speaks!"_ Crookshanks corrected himself.

Luna crouched down and scooped up Ringo. "You are so adorable. Though I've been meaning to ask why you kept following my father and me."

"_Momma Luna smells nice_." Ringo rubbed his squashed nose against Luna's neck.

"Do I need to worry about someone trying to steal Luna away from me?" Harry asked.

"_No Momma Harry_." Ringo said.

Harry sighed. "It's going to be one of those years isn't it?"

"Don't worry, you got the diary so it shouldn't be too bad. _Momma Harry_." Hermione teased him.

0-0

Ron crept through the silent house. He knew that the Blacks had a ton of dark and cursed items. He was sure that Black would use them to support Potter as he went dark. This was a perfect opportunity to strike against them unnoticed.

It didn't take long to find a warded room, though it was almost an hour later that he managed to get in. Sure enough it was filled with things that he couldn't let fall into Potter's hands. And if he decided to use them himself or sell them for some gold well that was fine because he was keeping them away from Potter.

His search was cut short when he found a locket. A memory asserted itself. He didn't know what it was but he knew it was something that he was supposed to keep safe. It was important. Ron stuffed it into his pocket. He'd make sure Potter never got his hands on it.

0-0

It took most of the night for Ron to figure out the best way to keep the locket safe. It was only after he convinced himself that it had to have some kind of protective effect that the idea to give it to Ginny occurred to him.

It would probably keep _her_ safe from Potter and _she'd_ keep it safe from Potter. It was perfect!

During the normal morning rush Ron managed to snag Ginny and pull her into an empty room. She glared at him expecting more stories about Hogwarts, how she had to wrestle a troll to get sorted, or fight a dragon in the first DADA class. "What do you want?"

"Listen I wanted to congratulate you on starting Hogwarts. I know we don't get along often but I'm proud of you so I got you this." Ron pulled out the locket. "I know it looks kind of gaudy but I got some protective enchantments put on it for you."

Ginny eyed the locket suspiciously. "Where did you get it?"

"I, eh kind of snuck out and went to a junk shop in Hogsmeade last year. It was just a cheap piece of costume jewelry but I'm not that good at the protective charms yet so I needed something bigger to use."

"Is this some prank?" Ginny demanded.

"No! I'm not the twins. I swear to you." Ron hid his annoyance that she wasn't just going to believe him.

"Well alright but if you're lying I'll hex you until I graduate!" Ginny threatened as she took the locket and put it on.

Ron smiled. "Don't worry it'll be fine."

0-0

Because Harry was still technically under the authority of the Weasleys and because Dumbledore had for some reason convinced Molly that it was dangerous for him to floo Harry once again joined the Weasleys in driving to Kings Cross station. Sirius took the floo with Hermione and Luna.

The ride was uncomfortable and less than pleasant for everyone but it was also thankfully short. When they arrived at the station Harry found Hermione and Luna at the same shop where they had set the year before. They had even ordered him a drink.

Molly frowned at them and began to usher everyone through the barrier. Somehow Harry, Hermione, Luna, Ron and Ginny were the last. Harry attempted to slip through the way, only to find it once again solid. His momentum carried him forward. He toppled over the fake trunk he had to avoid suspicion. "You have got to be kidding me."

"What happened here?"

Harry glanced up and someone in a uniform standing over him. "Sorry, I got going too fast and lost control."

The man looked less than pleased. Kids, always running around and making trouble. "Are you alright?"

"Just embarrassed." Harry said. After several uncomfortable moments the man moved on.

Ron glared at the brick wall, he remembered something like this happening before. Probably Potter's fault. How had they fixed it before? Oh right he'd flown his dad's car. Well he had been wanting to, driving looked fun. "Alright you lot looks like our only choice is to fly the car to Hogwarts, let's go."

"That is possibly the stupidest idea I have ever heard." Hermione put her hands on her hips and gave him a look all sane people feared. Ron ignored her.

"What would you know, you're just a muggle born." Ron caught himself. He still needed her to do his summer work.

"Ron no one is going to fly your dad's car. We just need to wait they'll be back soon." Harry said.

"Shut it Potter!" Ron grabbed his trunk and stormed towards the exit.

Ginny looked torn between following him and staying put. Luna put an arm around her. "Don't worry it won't matter if we miss the train we'll still get there."

While Luna comforted Ginny Dobby appeared next to Harry. "Dobby is being sorry but Dobby is feeling bad magic. Great Harry Potter sir was already running towards it, this was being the first thing Dobby is thinking of." Dobby rung his ears in worry, his speech suffering from his nervousness.

"It's fine Dobby, what bad magic?" Harry asked. Once again history was repeating itself. Even if it was in a slightly different way.

"Dobby is not being sure, nasty ward is becoming active though." Dobby explained.

"Can you safely remove it and store it at the manor for us?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, it is not being held in place well." Dobby vanished, his head still bobbing away.

It was less than a minute later when Sirius and Arthur came jogging towards them. "What happened? Why didn't you go through?"

"It sealed itself shut." Hermione explained. "Ron wanted to go steal your car Mr. Weasley and fly to Hogwarts. You should probably go check on him."

"Oh dear." Arthur turned and hurried towards the exit. He apparently didn't make it as moments after he vanished into the crowd they caught sight of his car flying by one of the window.

0-0

Ron was having the time of his life. Sure the car wasn't as fast as a broom but it also didn't have the wind blowing in your face. He'd turned on the portable wizarding wireless as he cruised along. He caught up to the train quickly and flew along behind it. Yes this was a good way to travel. He had the car all to himself and he'd even remembered to have that elf pack him a whole roast goose for lunch.

He was just about to dig in when the portkey that he had made to prank Harry, the one that he had never gotten around to actually giving Harry and still had in his pocket, activated.

0-0

Neville watched with concern as Trever asked him to help put on his armor. As the now large toad had explained it. _"I am needed to defend this train. I shall return victorious._"

He had no idea what Trevor needed to defend the train from and hoped it was just a large bug that he was going to eat. Once the armor was on, thankfully the sizing charms had been able to keep up with his growth, Trevor jumped right out the window, Neville felt his heart stop for a moment before Trevor crawled back across the glass and onto the roof of the train.

0-0

Ron's scream was ripped away by the wind. If being stuck out on that little platform had been bad, being stuck to the side of the train was a hundred times worse. And that was before the demon toad had arrived. It crawled along the metal side of the train car, slowly coming closer. Ron was stuck in such a way that he couldn't even reach his wand. "Get away from me!"

The toad ignored him, the grotesque metal mask it wore seeming to stare into Ron's soul.

Without warning its tongue shot out and slapped Ron painfully across the face. Then again and again. The abuse kept up for several minutes. Until Ron's old and worn clothes finally tore and he fell from the train. Unfortunately he had only applied the sticking charm part of the portkey to clothes.

He rolled painfully along the ground in nothing but his underwear, his wand flew away on his first bounce against the muddy ground.

It was further bad fortune that he had fallen off the train just as it passed through a particularly swampy patch of ground. It took him several minutes to extract himself from the mud, and a further hour to find his wand which had been snapped.

In nothing but his underwear, covered in muck, alone, lost and pissed off Ron did the one thing he knew how to do better than anything else. "Potter!"

0-0

Nott kicked his worthless house elf across the compartment. It had ruined everything! First it hadn't gotten Potter, then the ward had disappeared before the foul creature could retrieve it! This was not how his revenge against Potter was supposed to go.

0-0

Harry, Hermione, Luna and Ginny arrived at Hogwarts by floo. Molly had exploded when they finally made it onto the platform after Dobby said it was safe. They had missed the train and she had attempted to blame Sirius. It only got worse when Sirius told her about Ron, Molly had laid into Harry for not stopping him until Sirius stepped in and pointed out that it was not Harry's job to stop her youngest from doing stupid things. As well as that Harry _had_ made a reasonable attempt to stop Ron.

After that Molly had insisted on returning to the Burrow so she could contact Dumbledore. She'd whined and wailed about her poor baby being lost, completely ignoring that he had stolen a car. When Dumbledore finally managed to calm her down he invited the children through his floo.

He ushered them from his office with the suggestion that they give Ginny a tour of the school before he hurried to try and put out whatever fires Ron had started. The only bright spot at that point was that Ginny seemed to have made her way into their group well.

They decided to start the tour at the Hufflepuff common room so they could deposit their trunks. As soon as Hermione and Luna were in their dorm Hermione threw up some privacy charms. "You need to distract Ginny, this is a perfect chance to get the Horcrux in the Room of Requirements."

"You and Harry had better be careful." Luna threatened.

"We will be. Just watch Ginny." Hermione gave her a quick kiss.

Luna hurried back to the common room where they had left Ginny. "Come on Ginny I'll show you around. Hermione is going to check Harry's summer work for spelling."

"I can help him." Ginny quickly offered.

"Well I can put you on the rotation if you want but right now it's Hermione's turn. Come on lets go see if Hagrid is around, he is very fun." Luna pulled Ginny from the common room and towards the grounds.

0-0

Harry and Hermione crouched under his invisibility cloak outside the Room of Requirements. Harry focused and asked for Voldemort's horcrux. They were both surprised when they opened the door and found the same junk room where they had hidden Slytherin the year before. Harry groaned. "It'll take us weeks to find anything in here."

"Well we have been meaning to go through the room and see if anything valuable is hidden in here. Hang on let me try something." They closed the door and Hermione focused on her need for a room with just the horcrux in it.

When she opened the door there was a tiara sitting in the middle of the floor. The room itself was no bigger than a broom cupboard. Hermione spent several minutes casting charms to make sure that it was indeed the horcrux. Thankfully Luna's family library had a charm that they had easily altered for just this purpose. "That's it."

Harry levitated it into another warded box and had Dobby take it back to the manor. "Two down."

"And still too many to go." Hermione said.

Harry threw his arm around her. "Come on this is going better than our first time."

"I know I just want it to be finished already." Hermione said as she enjoyed the close contact. Something she had desperately missed over the last month.

"Me too, though we'll still have to deal with Molly before we can make a clean break. That's something we can work on this year since it should be quiet for once." Harry said.

Hermione turned and hit his chest. "Shh, don't jinx us."

"We got the diary, and the only other one at Hogwarts. I can't see how this year won't be relaxing." Harry was sure that they covered every angle this time.

"Stop it, I'm telling Luna that you're trying to ruin our luck." Hermione said.

"Fine fine, let's go find Luna."

0-0

Among the new charms Arthur had added to his car after speaking with Harry was a charm to track it in case it was ever stolen or lost. He had no idea that Harry had made a slight alteration so that it could be turned off if they ever needed to use it unnoticed.

Unfortunately because several people saw the car when it first took to the air he was forced to contact the Ministry so their memories could be altered. By the time they were actually able to send out a pair of Aurors to find the car it was already empty, hovering above a small farm and honking its horn occasionally. Much to the confusion of the farmer and his three chickens. Once they had secured the invisible car they were forced to scour the area between the farm and Kings Cross.

It was at dusk that one of the dozen people assigned to the search found a muddy, cold and mostly naked Ron limping along the tracks. He was quickly taken to a healer, once he was treated Ron was informed that he was being charged with breaking the Statue of Secrecy and was assigned a hearing date.

0-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna waved to Ginny as she hurried to join the other new students being sorted. They took seats at the Hufflepuff table and waited. A glance over the head table showed that Dumbledore had still managed to rope Slughorn into teaching again and Lockhart was showing off his unnaturally bright smile.

Ron still hadn't arrived and they were all wondering if he'd make an appearance by crashing into the Whomping Willow.

Ginny couldn't care less about where Ron was, she was too focused on the sorting. Hoping that she would end up in Hufflepuff. She wouldn't admit it but she still held out some hope that she and Harry would become romantically involved someday. But she also wanted to be with them as Luna and Harry were the closest thing to friends she had at the moment.

She wasn't exactly sure where she stood with them though, Harry and Luna were nice but Hermione was still a bit distant. Her thoughts were interrupted as her name was finally called. Ginny nervously put the hat on her head.

"_Hmm what to do what to do? So set on your goals, so cunning. You could do well in Slytherin."_ Hathfojd almost felt bad about teasing the child but not quite. She had done a great deal of damage in the old time line and while they had made progress in shifting her away there was still a chance that she could fall back. A choice made now might be just the extra push she needed.

"_Not Slytherin! Harry and Luna will never talk to me again!"_ Ginny pleaded.

"_No? Even if it was the only way for you to be with the Boy-Who-Lived?"_ Hathfojd smiled as he watched the conflicting emotions play out in the young girls head before there was a victor.

"_The-Boy-Who-Lived is a myth, if I'm meant to be with Harry then the house won't matter and if not then I'd rather be his friend."_ Ginny surprised herself with the thought but it was true. Harry had been nicer to her than most of her brothers and he and Luna and Hermione were actually willing to hang out with her. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

Hathfojd was surprised when he realized that some type of subtle compulsion charm had been broken. It had been too weak for him to notice without specifically looking for it but it was deeply ingrained into the girls mind. This would make things much more interesting. Dumbledore was doing his best to see the girl put into Hufflepuff with Harry and Hathfojd made the easy guess that he had something to do with the compulsion. Not that it mattered now, once broken the victim of such charms was always much harder to place back under them. _"That was a brave statement, willing to risk what you want. Gryffindor would do well with you but I can see your heart is set on remaining with your friends. By the way they wouldn't have stopped talking to you if you were sorted into Slytherin. But your loyalty to them will suit you well in _HUFFELPUFF!"

Ginny nearly threw the Sorting hat back onto the stool as she hurried to the Hufflepuff table. Luna waved her to an open seat and they congratulated her on joining the house.

Dumbledore leaned back and sighed, he had been worried for a moment that the girl wouldn't make it into Hufflepuff, despite his powers there was still a chance and it annoyed him greatly that things were not completely under his control.

0-0

That night after the new Hufflepuffs had been made to feel welcome and everyone had gone off to bed, Ginny lay snuggled in her covers. Happy with how the day had gone, even if she had missed riding the train. In the dark of night, around three in the morning the locket that Ron had given her quietly clicked open.

Minutes later Ginny sat up with a jerk, glowing red eyes surveyed the room through their borrowed body.

0-0

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hoped that you enjoyed. No Ginny will not join Harry and the girls.)


	38. To Hatch A Plan

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Eight: To Hatch A Plan

0-0

Voldemort looked down at the child's body he was borrowing in disgust and confusion. In his plans he had designated certain horcruxes to remain hidden and protected insuring that he always had an anchor while others would be tasked with making a new body should anything happen to him. That one of his most well protected horcruxes ended up in the hands of a child was absurd!

At least there was an easy solution, he dove into the girls memories and found the one of her receiving the locket. Her brother had lied though Voldemort couldn't understand why. Did this Ronald know about his horcruxes? Inconceivable.

So what was his game? Voldemort felt frustration that his normal methods for finding an answer, namely torturing a person until they told him everything, were unavailable. The child, while strong for her age was still far too weak to be of use. Yes he could turn her into a new body but he wanted a better host for that. He had standards after all.

There were a number of options though, several powerful people were among the staff. But who? Dumbledore was out; as much as that would amuse him he needed someone else. Thankfully the girl he was stuck in had paid attention to the staff table and listened to her brothers over the years. She had a basic knowledge of each staff member and made his selection.

He cast a disillusionment charm on the girl and frowned as he felt the magical drain of the spell, curse weak children, they weren't good for anything. He crept down to the common room and snagged a half-eaten box of chocolates someone had left out, presumably to share with the other Hufflepuffs. He stuffed the disgusting sweet monstrosities into his mouth. The chocolate helped his already weakening magic.

As he moved down the corridor he bumped into a suit of armor, it rang like a bell as he once again cursed the small body he was forced to work with. He continued on his way to the owlery and cast several charms on the box before he addressed it and placed the locket inside.

The charms would insure the recipient would open it in private and put on the locket, from there the horcrux's own magic would take over. His last act before he left the child was to place a mental suggestion for her to return to bed and not remember anything about the locket.

As Ginny returned to bed the owl tasked with delivering the package decided that it still had time to let the mouse it had caught earlier digest before it needed to leave.

0-0

Harry, Hermione and Luna were hidden under his invisibility cloak as they made their way towards the Room of Requirements. There had been a moment of tension when a suit of armor had rung out but a check of the Marauders Map didn't show anyone in the hall. If they had bothered to check the second year girls' dorm they would have seen that Ginny's dot was also missing.

Hathfojd and Fawkes arrived in the room moments after the three second years. "You'll be happy to know that your attempt to alter Miss Weasley's path is working, continue to be her friends and I doubt you will have any problems."

"Well that's good. And without the diary causing trouble we can focus on other things." Hermione said, though she had still not forgiven Ginny for what had happened the first time through.

"Like sorting through this room, who knows what is hidden in here." Harry added.

Hathfojd managed to nod. "Yes, it certainly has gotten out of hand. It was originally supposed to be cleaned every decade or so, but I believe it was around the time of the fourth headmaster that the room became lost. It was such a shame. The founders made this room to teach new branches of magic that Hogwarts wasn't equipped to teach. It is a shame it has never been used for its intended purpose."

"I wouldn't trust Dumbledore with knowledge of it but maybe after he is gone you could tell the next headmaster about the room?" Luna suggested.

The sorting Hat snorted. "I would, if any bothered to have actually conversations with me."

"Are you sure that it's alright for us to just take things from the room?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes, anything in the room of lost things is considered abandoned property. On behalf of Hogwarts take whatever you want." Hathfojd assured them.

They continued to talk and plan for over an hour before Fawkes took Hathfojd back and reappeared with McGonagall's locked box of matches. Harry was impressed that she had increased the locking charms a great deal since the year before.

His ill-gotten treats in talon Fawkes vanished to enjoy his meal.

Hermione and Luna called for Dobby and had him bring them the ward stone he had found at King's Cross. They quickly determined that it was crude and barely worth the effort that it took to carve the runes into the meter long triangular rod of stone.

"If I'm reading this correctly it takes power from the wards it is attached to. Which limits its usefulness as it has to be at an existing ward line." Hermione said as she looked over their notes on it.

"That's what I found as well." Luna agreed. Her own notes, while detailed were also filled with random doodles.

"So what does it do?" Harry asked.

"It would give whoever walked by it painful boils over their entire body. Less effective than the curse to do the same thing. Especially because it has to be activated. We were clearly the targets and someone was watching for us." Hermione said.

"We need to put another galleon in the 'dobby just saved us again' jar." Luna remarked. She actually had made such a jar and had it sitting at Potter manor.

When they slipped back into the dorms Hermione checked and found Ginny still sleeping peacefully.

0-0

Hermione and Lunas relief at what was to be a relaxing year ended the next morning when they got up and found Ginny with deep bags under her eyes. She was pale and clammy and said she felt awful. They immediately volunteered to take her to see Madam Pomfrey and asked Susan to tell Harry where they were.

He caught up to them just as they were leaving the hospital wing. "What happened?"

"Somehow Ginny became magically exhausted…" Luna said worried.

"But how? We have the diary, and the other one that was at Hogwarts."

"We don't know for sure that's what this is." Hermione pointed out. "Luna and I volunteered to get her two way diary so she could write to Bill. We'll check her trunk for any sign of another one."

"Be careful."

0-0

Arthur stepped out of his meeting with Madam Bones. He was now sure that listening to Harry's suggestion an adding those extra charms to the car was the right thing to do. He had expected at least a fine though what he had done was technically not illegal thanks to a few loopholes. With the charms it was decided that he had broken no laws _and_ taken more than reasonable precautions to insure no muggles found out about it.

Yes they would probably still have to pay a fine for Ron stealing the car but that was better than two fines and who knew what else. Ron hadn't been cooperating either, going on and on about how it was all Harry's fault. Not for the first time he wondered if he should take his youngest son to a mind healer.

He decided to wait and see how the hearing went before he decided to do anything. He just hoped that Ron wouldn't be in too much trouble, not before he had the chance to deal with him.

0-0

They had checked every centimeter of the dorm room. There was no horcrux anywhere to be found. They reluctantly made their way back to the common room to tell Harry after they placed a number of charms to make sure neither Ginny nor any of their other roommates were sneaking out while possessed.

In the common room they found Ringo on his back with half a dozen girls lavishing attention on him. Crookshanks had been a bit jealous until Ringo had literally dragged the young cat over to share in it. He almost thought it made up for the strange beast continuing to refer to him as mama Crookshanks.

Luna scooped up Ringo who waved a chubby paw at the disappointed girls. They made a detour on their way to breakfast in an empty classroom. Several privacy charms insured that they wouldn't be overheard. "There wasn't anything there Harry."

He was about to ask if they were sure but thought better of it. "Then what happened?"

"I don't know but whatever it was I doubt it was a horcrux. We know the location of three, which leaves three unaccounted for and the main soul. The chance of one of those three making its way to Hogwarts is minuscule." Hermione said.

"Except that time is still resisting the changes and will until Voldemort is finally gone." Harry pointed out.

"All we can do is keep an eye on Ginny." Luna put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "And don't forget that Slytherin is safely away from the castle and hidden behind the Potter wards."

"I know I just thought that we were actually ahead for once." Harry said.

"We have two of them, come December we can use the ritual again and find out for sure if there is one at Hogwarts. We're well ahead of where we were last time." Hermione assured him.

The group made their way down to breakfast. The normal first morning rush of owls descended on them. It seemed that every professor received post. They were just finishing when an overly happy Dumbledore approached them. They didn't bother to hide their groans.

Dumbledore couldn't help but take it as a sign that this year would go his way. Their first morning back and he already had a way to apply pressure to help bring Harry back into line. "Miss Lovegood I am terribly sorry but I must confiscate your… pet. He is not on the list of allowed animals."

Luna latched onto Harry. "But you let him stay all of last year."

Hermione choked on her juice while Dumbledore floundered for an answer. Several other students had no such problem and openly laughed. That only grated on Dumbledore's nerves. "You are well aware that is not what I meant. I was referring to that thing."

Dumbledore pointed towards Ringo who had climbed onto the table and into a bowl of fruit. He was completely unconcerned with the Headmaster as he lay on his back, an apple held firmly between his legs.

"Oh? And why would you want to take away Ringo?" Luna asked, not that it was an unexpected move. They'd already made sure all of the loopholes were closed in regards to Ringo staying with Luna.

"As I said it is not on the list of approved pets."

"Neither are rats however you allowed the Weasleys to bring one for several years." Luna pointed out.

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, well we are now cracking down on that rule so I shall just take your friend shall I?"

Ringo looked at Dumbledore and growled. Dumbledore snatched his hand back afraid of being bitten.

"I didn't know he could do that." Luna commented. "I am afraid sir that while you are correct that Ringo isn't an approved pet he is also not on the list of banned creatures. And because he is my familiar the rules say that he may stay."

"Come now do you expect me to believe that you have already formed a familiar bond with this creature?" Dumbledore asked skeptically.

"Professor Sprout, could you assist us for a moment?" Hermione called up to their head of house.

With a sigh Professor Sprout made her way down to her young badgers. Annoyed that Dumbledore was already causing them trouble. "What can I do to assist you?"

"Well Ringo is Luna's familiar but the Headmaster doubts it. Could you cast the spell to check for the bond?" Hermione asked.

"Of course." She cast the spell and it clearly showed that the bond existed between Luna and Ringo, who had gone back to his fruit bowl. "Well I believe that is settled."

"Not yet." Dumbledore said. "We know nothing about this creature or how dangerous it might be. For all we know this is only some type of larval stage to a horrible monster."

"Ringo was approved by the Ministry and given a two X classification. Also if you are curious my father and I have done an in-depth study of them. I could give you a copy." Luna offered.

While Dumbledore knew he could push the issue he wisely decided that he stood little to gain by doing so at the moment. He'd come back to it later if the opportunity presented itself. "Very well as you were."

Dumbledore left the great hall and made his way to his office. He was busy working through the start of year paper work that McGonagall couldn't do herself when said professor burst into his office. "Dumbledore! Your blasted bird did it again!"

"Didn't you lock up your matches?" Dumbledore asked with a sigh.

"Of course I did! I used NEWT level charms! It must have had help!" McGonagall ranted.

"We don't know that Fawkes was behind this, in fact that the charms were bypassed indicates that someone else is responsible." Dumbledore explained softly.

"Oh? And tell me where is Fawkes right now?" McGonagall asked looking around the office.

Dumbledore frowned as he realized that he didn't know. Following a hunch he moved to a side door and found an overstuffed Fawkes on the floor surrounded by match sticks. The phoenix cracked open an eye to look at Dumbledore, squawked and burst into flames. He turned around and found a smirking McGonagall.

"You'll have replacement matches in my classroom by the time I get back there?" She asked smugly.

"Yes." Dumbledore said. He dispatched an elf to get them and pondered how Fawkes had gotten into McGonagall's matches. He was interrupted again by the smell of rotten, boiled cabbage and horse hoofs.

0-0

As the trio was leaving the great hall they were stopped by Professor Slughorn. "May I speak with you a moment? I wanted to inquire if you were planning to continue your cooking club?"

"We haven't decided." Harry admitted. "It was fun but we mostly did it because Snape was ignoring the basics."

"I understand. I've been reviewing the records he left and find that the man, no matter how great a brewer he was, had no business teaching. I am hoping that you will continue your club. Those students who you taught all did better than expected. The few OWL students scored noticeably higher than their classmates. Unfortunately I will have a great deal of work cut out for me repairing the damage Severus did and your club would be very useful in helping your fellow students." Slughorn had made some inquiries and realized that the three students came as a package deal. If he wanted Harry Potter in his club he'd gladly take the other two, who were both worthy of his club in their own right. Miss Granger was the top of her year in most subjects, closely followed by Miss Lovegood and Harry. Miss Lovegood had also discovered a new creature, one that could offer new potion ingredients; he was almost desperate to get his hands on some of its horn and hair. He also knew he'd need to take his time. Just offering an invitation would drive them away.

Yes Slughorn was prepared to play the long game. "Professor Sprout and I are also working to more closely integrate our classes. From what I heard you club meeting last year that covered stale ingredients and preparation would be a boon to us."

"We will consider it." Luna said. Hoping that they could escape from the man.

"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing all of you in class.

Despite their dislike of Slughorn they were impressed by his first class. He went over proper safety precautions and assigned a report on common safety mistakes. He had also put in a large order for books that covered ingredient reactions and provided them to the class as reference material.

0-0

Dumbledore tossed and turned.

_He stood in an elegant room, the walls lined with gold. There was a feast being set before the guests, all of who were Fawkes. Their wings began to clap as Harry's owl entered; it flew up to a throne and sat regally._

_Dumbledore watched as the Fawkes burst into a well-choreographed dance number, now all wearing belly dancer outfits. The dance ended with a fireworks show, raised platforms around the room and a giant roast chicken sitting before Hedwig to slate her unholy lust for the flesh of her avian brethren._

_Suddenly Dumbledore found himself in a chicken outfit being pushed forward by more Fawkes._

_Hedwig had grown to monstrous proportions, towering over him. The feathers on her breast began to ripple before they parted and Voldemort's head appeared. "So glad you could join us Albus, do you like my new host? Never did I envision that her power was so great! Through her, I shall rule the world and control Potter."_

"_I won't let you!" Dumbledore shouted._

"_Silence!" Hedwig ordered. "Bind him in bacon so the feast of the goat buggering fool may begin!"_

_Dumbledore still dressed as a chicken now found himself wrapped in bacon. Above him James Potter's purple phoenix circled. Its feathers falling away to reveal dead skin a bone beneath. Dumbledore looked around again. He was now in the middle of a desert; Fawkes heads stuck out of the sand and circled him. _

_A band of Flitwick's began to play a lively tune while a now person sized Hedwig, still with Voldemort's head on her chest, danced the boogie with McGonagall. Other professors joined them._

_Off to the side James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Lilly Potter played volley ball. But the ball was Severus. Dumbledore desperately wanted to save his friend but he had forgotten to finish his charms essay and if he didn't have it for class in ten minutes he would fail his NEWTs, in fact he couldn't remember having gone to charms class at all that year!_

_To make matters worse his teeth had changed into lemon drops and they kept slipping out of his mouth._

Dumbledore woke up gasping, his tongue quickly probing his mouth to insure all of his teeth were where they were meant to be. His racing pulse calmed as he remembered that he had taken his NEWTs a considerable time ago and didn't take classes anymore.

He lay back down on his bed and attempted to return to sleep.

0-0

Voldemort smiled as he examined his new host. Far from perfect but immensely better than a little girl. His chosen host had been surprisingly susceptible and he was already able to take control while his host slept. He had also gleaned more information from his new host.

He had been surprised to discover that his spy Severus was dead and Dumbledore believed that James Potter was behind it. Perhaps he had given Dumbledore too much credit before. The man had clearly gone around the bend.

It was also a surprise that his chosen host had access to a number of rare spell books that had eluded him while he was alive, or at least before he made the locket horcrux. He decided to spend some time studying them while he slowly gained more control over his host's magic.

0-0

Ginny was released from the hospital wing on the third day of classes, after Pomfrey was sure that she was significantly recovered to cast spells again. Luna and Hermione had taken notes for her and spent the next day helping her catch up while watching for any sign that she had a horcrux.

She seemed to have completely recovered from whatever had happened, though no one was exactly sure what that was. She was also released just in time for their first DADA class.

Harry had taken some flak from the female students upset that he doubted Lockhart. Even within Hufflepuff he had received some withering looks. However the prize money had caused a great many students to begin looking more closely at the frauds books. In fact some had even joined together and agreed to split the winnings to better their odds. They hoped that after actually having class with the man that number would go up and more people would see him for what he was.

As they were taking their seats Lockhart was checking his appearance in a mirror. He had to admit this professor scam was probably the best that he had come up with since his first book. Because it was so hard to find a defense professor he could command a much larger salary than a normal first year professor would make.

There was also that he had gotten every student to buy all of his books. That had swelled his vault nicely as well, even more than what he would make teaching for the next year. Before he sadly had to step down and go deal with something else, a clever ploy to avoid the supposed curse on the position. No need to tempt anything after all.

More important than the rest though was his opportunity to help convince the children that he was the greatest wizard since Merlin. He would have all year to work on them; by the time he left they'd believe it and be willing to buy any other book he wrote. Stupid kids, they'd believe anything. But that was why his plan was perfect!

He walked into the classroom, flashing his award winning smile, even if it did cost him a bundle to buy the award each year. He began his prepared speech, the same one he had given to each of his classes and handed out his test. It would give him an idea of how much it would take to show them how great he was. His logic being that the more they knew about him the better he would appear to them.

As he was collecting the tests though he noticed a problem. "Mr. Potter, you seem to have forgotten to fill out your test."

"I didn't, I decided not to waste my time with it. This is a class to learn defense. Asking what your favorite color is, well it's just insulting. It has nothing to do with anything of importance. If any questions about you are on our OWL's or NEWT's I'll eat my wand." Harry explained calmly.

Lockhart wasn't sure what to do, so as usual he quickly retreated. He thought that he was limiting the damage but really it gave more of the student's reason to believe Harry. Or at least planted the seeds of doubt.

0-0

Not all of the girls who had dealt the previous year with the trio's puppet returned to Hogwarts. The girl from Hufflepuff had convinced her parents to send her to Beauxbatons. Those that did return had all decided to have the event removed from their memories. While they knew something had happened they were glad to have no idea what that might have been.

Lockhart's niece and her friend had over the summer convinced Lockhart to teach them. It had taken awhile to force him to actually show them anything good and not his normal act. In the end though, aside from memory charms, he was almost worthless. However he had accumulated a rather large collection of books, mostly gifts from his fans. Among them were several that had some rather nasty curses in them that they 'borrowed' to study. Both knew that the idiot likely wouldn't last the year, since Potter had apparently targeted the man they had doubts he'd make it to Christmas.

Their plans had also hit a snag as they were forced the lay low and wait, mostly because there had yet to be an opportunity to exploit.

0-0

Dumbledore had assured Arthur that Ron's hearing was merely a formality and offered to speak for Ron. Much to his displeasure Madam Bones had decided to handle the hearing herself. The woman had no sympathy; she did not understand mercy or giving second chances. Dumbledore did his best to portray Ron as a studious young man who was just worried about missing class and being in trouble.

Madam Bones however insisted on talking to Ron and hearing his reasoning for herself. When Dumbledore tried to block her Madam Bones pointed out that none of his positions gave him that right and had him removed from the hearing.

"Now Mr. Weasley please explain what happened in your own words." Madam Bones directed him.

"Well Potter couldn't get through the barrier, just smashed right into it. Idiot. I don't know what he was up to but I knew he was up to something. He's dark you know. No one believes me but it's true. Well I wasn't going to play whatever he was up to so I knew I needed to get to Hogwarts on my own. I remembered Dad's car could fly so I figured I'd just take it, follow the train and get to Hogwarts in style.

"I tried to get Ginny and the other girls to come with me but Potter wouldn't let them. He's probably got them bewitched with the Imperius or something. You should really look into it. Anyways they wouldn't come so I went and got the car and took off. I knew my parents could just apparate home so I wasn't worried about them." Ron hesitated a moment, he couldn't say that the illegal portkey he had made stuck him to the side of the train.

"As I was following the train the car jerked and I fell out the door." He said lamely. "Of course I wouldn't have even been in the car if it wasn't for Potter so this is all his fault."

Madam Bones and Arthur looked on in concern as Ron continued to whine that Harry Potter was dark and to blame for everything. Finally Madam Bones called for order. "Mr. Weasley you don't seem to realize that you were at no point forced into any of your actions. I have to ask why you didn't wait for your parents?"

"I knew Potter was up to something and figured it was better to just get out of there." Ron said.

With a sigh Madam Bones rubbed her nose. "You are found in violation of the statute of secrecy and will be fined appropriately. I am also recommending that you see a mind healer. You should be glad that I am not expelling you."

"But it's all Potters fault!" Ron shouted.

Arthur hurried to get his son out of the room before he got into more trouble. He sent Ron home to Molly while he began to make arrangements. The fine and mind healer would deeply eat into their savings but there was no way around it. Perhaps Dumbledore could help them.

0-0

Ron grumbled, it was no fair. Potter started it but no one believed him, and he couldn't just go and tell people that he was from a future where Potter was a dark Lord. They wouldn't believe him, and if they did he'd be locked up as a danger to time or something.

He sat in the waiting room at St. Mungo's, he had been allowed to return to Hogwarts but every Saturday he was required to attend these sessions with a mind healer. Well he wasn't about to let some stupid healer into his mind, it was too important that he deal with Potter. He couldn't risk it. Ron justified anything that he needed to do as for the greater good.

When he was called into see the healer he waited to make his move. There were the normal questions. Not that he cared about them. Then, when the healers guard was down Ron slipped out his hidden wand and whispered. "Imperio."

The healer's eyes glazed over. Ron smirked as he took her clipboard and read her notes. That wouldn't do, she thought he was crazy. They just didn't understand. He ordered her to redo the forms stating that he was sane and harmless.

Ron also kicked the healer from her chair and took it himself. Once he had calmed down he realized this might not be so bad. He gave the healer an order to have some food for his next visit. Then he realized he could also get her to do his essays for him.

By the time he left he had three complete papers stuffed into his robe pockets to be copied later.

0-0

Voldemort couldn't believe his luck! Here, hidden in a musty and forgotten book was information that he had sought out for decades but never found. Unless he discovered it after he had made the locket into a horcrux. Which was doubtful as he hadn't read anything about it in the articles of his exploits after the locket was hidden.

He would need supplies though. He could find most of it in the Hogwarts potion supplies but there were a few that were too dark to be found there. After some consideration he wondered if Snape's hidden vault of ingredients had survived the fire?

It was worth checking into and would prove a good test of his rapidly expanding control.

0-0

Voldemort appeared near Snape's former home. A dark cloak pulled tight around his host. The burned ruins of the house didn't look very out of place in such a depressing town. He made his way through them to what had been the basement, and after shifting a great deal of rubble found the hidden trap door that he was looking for.

He had taken the information about the vault from Snape, whose mental skills were not nearly as good as he believed. The wards on the vault, supplied by Malfoy, had protected it from the raging fire and halfhearted search.

It amused him that had Dumbledore not started going on about how James Potter had killed Snape they might have investigated enough to locate the vault. He found that he was actually owing the man for making his task so much easier.

He descended into the hidden vault and smiled at the shelves lined with illegal and dark ingredients. He spent most of the night safely packing them away before he returned his host. Unfortunately the final and arguably most important ingredient was missing. Not that he was surprised, he had never even heard of it.

0-0

Two days later Voldemort did something that he really would rather not have done. Without a hint of the final ingredient in any reference that he could find he decided to turn to the muggle world. While he would just as soon slaughter them all he hoped that they would have some legend that might point him in the correct direction.

That was why, hidden under a glamor and confundus charm, he walked into the London Library. He described what he was looking for, and to his surprise learned that not only did the muggles know of it but a useable sample was located at the London Natural History Museum.

Despite feeling his control weakening from prolonged use Voldemort couldn't stop now that he was so close. He hurried to the museum and descended into the archives to retrieve the final ingredient, a sample of the Titanoboa.

0-0

The trio had decided to take a break from sorting the Room of Requirements and spend their time relaxing in the Hufflepuff common room. They had, after a number or requests begun the cooking club again. Luna and Hermione sat on either side of Harry, resting against him. Ringo was sprawled across Luna's lap snoring while she stroked his belly.

The strange creature had been a large hit among most of the students, with a number of Ravenclaws had approached Luna for permission to study Ringo, which she had granted provided they didn't disturb him. Not everyone was happy about only being able to observe but they quickly learned not to push things when they discovered that the quills on Ringo's back could be shot at high speed.

Luna was also busy making another set of Quibbler cards that she hoped to have for sale by Christmas. In fact at that very moment Ginny was playing the game against Susan with a small crowd watching.

Harry was just relieved that there hadn't been any sign of a horcrux since Ginny's mysterious magical exhaustion. The alarms that they had set around the Chamber of Secrets had also shown that it remained undisturbed and gave them hope that the year actually would be quiet.

They also felt they deserved the rest as, after several days of testing, the discovered the extra ability given to Ringo by the bonding ritual. He was able to breakdown wards by pushing against them. The stronger the ward the harder it was and the longer it took but Hermione had hope that his quills could be used to make a better set of ward picks for them.

0-0

Quiet was not a word that could be used to describe Azkaban. Bella was once again laughing hysterically while Peter curled into a ball in an attempt to block out the noise. It was almost as bad as the dementors.

Bella couldn't help it though as she looked at the marks on her cell floor, made by her talons. She was progressing rapidly with the change and had already managed her feet and hands. It was a thrill to hear to learn that her claws were just like knives and she already had a list started of people she would gut with them once she was free.

0-0

Voldemort needed a place to work in secret; he had considered the chamber but decided against it. It was his ace in the hole, a way to destroy Hogwarts from within. And while this plan would do the same he thought it was a bad idea to base both from the same location. Thankfully there were dozens of suitable locations in the dungeons. Few people realized how expansive they were. Nearly a third of the castle was underground and most of it had been sealed off.

He was surprised to discover his first choice in location, a large pit, was already in use. He recognized the magic of his late follower Snape. What he couldn't understand was why the man had decided to throw seemingly every half finish potion he could find into the pit. Though the resulting sludge was interesting. It might make a useful place to dispose of people should the need arise.

His second choice was empty, a room hidden under a set of stairs. Voldemort quickly got to work; it would take almost a month. Though that was considerably less time than had been hinted at before in the vague mentions he had found before his current host.

It was a strange emotion but Voldemort would privately admit that he felt giddy.

0-0

The month of September passed by quickly. As Hermione's birthday approached Luna noticed that Ginny seemed nervous. When confronted on it Luna was surprised by her answer. "Luna I don't know what to do for Hermione's birthday."

"Er…" Of all the possibilities that one hadn't crossed her mind.

"Both of you have spent a lot of time helping me with my classwork." Ginny said while she scratched Ringo's head. "But I don't know what to do; I don't exactly have a lot of money and no idea what to get her anyways."

"You can bake; why not make her a cake?" Luna suggested.

"How?" Ginny asked.

"Use the kitchen, the house elves won't mind. Harry uses it sometimes. We can help you if you want." Luna offered.

The night before Hermione's birthday Harry and Luna learned an important lesson. In a kitchen Ginny could be as frightening as Dobby. Even the house elves quickly realized it was best to just do as she asked. When they finished they looked with pride at the cake, Ginny had really gone all out even asking Bill for help with some of the charms.

When Hermione came down to the common room the next morning she found her housemates gathered around a three tier blue and purple cake. Tiny Crookshanks were running across the cake's icing, jumping over books and quills.

Ginny had practiced the charms to add and animate the images for hours and couldn't help but smile with pride at her achievement.

Of course Hermione knew that Ginny was baking her a cake, Luna and Harry had promised to keep a close eye on her to make sure nothing extra got slipped in. But they hadn't mentioned how big it was, or the surprisingly advanced charm work.

Despite it being Hermione's birthday almost as much attention was focused on Ginny for the cake, something Hermione was more than ok with as it allowed her to avoid that much attention. She was completely forgotten when Ron began to loudly praise Ginny's cake while saying that it was too good for Hermione.

He didn't get to say anymore as he suddenly found himself being assaulted by tiny bats and his underwear twisting tight around his more sensitive areas. During some of her conversations with Bill he taught her more hexes to defend herself. She was prepared to show her idiot brother the rest when he managed to crawl to the boy's dorm and disappear.

Ginny had tried to apologize to Hermione but was waved off; she had no more control over Ron than they did. Though Hermione did ask Ginny to teach her the hex. She knew it but thought that Ginny would feel better if given an easy way to 'make up' for Ron's actions.

That night during their customary birthday bath, still in swimsuits, much to Luna's displeasure. She told Harry and Hermione that several other Hufflepuffs had asked Ginny to make their cakes as well.

After the bath and massaging Hermione they lay on a large couch, wrapped in fluffy white robes and snuggled together. They began to discuss how they could get Harry away from the Weasleys. It was quickly decided that a more achievable goal would be to marginalize Molly, as Harry was sure that he could convince Arthur to ok him leaving the country.

The trouble was that they were sure that if anything happened to Molly, Dumbledore would try and pin in on Sirius. That led to talks about dealing with Dumbledore, but the question was how. Unfortunately nothing they could come up with was worth the risk at that time.

0-0

A similar scene played out on Luna's birthday, Ginny made another cake, though smaller as there was also several bowls of pudding. The cake had tiny Ringos on it, the real Ringo loved them and they learned that he also had a sweet tooth. Finishing off a large piece of cake and most of a bowl of pudding.

Luna's birthday night played out just like Hermione's but with a bowl of terracotta pudding before the bath. She also insisted on a long session of snogging with each of them. Letting her hands wander more than she should have, but it was fine as their own hands did the same. She couldn't wait until they were able to complete the ritual and get back to their fun games.

0-0

Ron growled. His father had forbidden him from trying out for the quidditch team as punishment for his stunt with the car. It wasn't fair. Potter was still on the team, he got to play even though it was all his fault. Well Ron would have his revenge, this was the year that he'd prove Potter was evil. He'd show them all.

0-0

Voldemort waited in anticipation. The month was up, this was the night. In a small ritual circle four toads sat on chicken eggs. Near midnight the first egg began to crack, the serpent inside struggling out. Voldemort watched as the other eggs began to shake as well.

The first basilisk to escape its shell finished the ritual by eating the toad that had sat on its egg. Its first meal, its parent. Voldemort found it poetic. Slowly two more emerged from their shells and repeated the process. The fourth continued to struggle but by sunrise it had failed to escape its egg and gone still.

Well three out of four was acceptable for now.

_{{Hello my children.}}_ Voldemort reached out and stroked the young basilisks, as wide as his fingers and twice as long, though now misshapen by their first meal. Soon they'd be a more respectable size. And Hogwarts would provide the perfect place for them to hone their hunting skills.

0-0

(A/N: First off I know the Titanoboa wasn't discovered until after more recent years; however the method described in the books for making a basilisk just sounded too easy. If that was all there was to it Voldemort could have had an army of them. My idea was that the method involved soaking the eggs in a potion before the toads sat on them in a ritual circle. Thank you to the guest Sjstaudt for pointing out that it is a Titanoboa not a Titanboa.

This chapter really fought me because I needed to cover a great deal of set up for the rest of the year. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.)


	39. Of Slugs, Snakes and Cats

Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and this disclaimer belongs to DerLaCroix.

Tempest of the Fae

Chapter Thirty Nine: Of Slugs, Snakes and Cats

0-0

Voldemort, still in control of his host, made his way through the Hogwarts dungeons. His new basilisks were safely concealed in a heavily warded room, but he needed to dispose of the evidence; basilisk egg shells radiated dark magic that could not go unnoticed forever. The potion pit would do nicely. He tossed the shells, unhatched egg and toad into the bubbling concoction.

As he left, Voldemort didn't see the potion mixture beginning to churn violently. As the remains of his ritual sank to the bottom of the pit, the unhatched egg reacted to the potions and was forced open. Still compelled by its charms, the basilisk attempted to consume the toad, managing to swallow half the toad before its struggling ceased.

0-0

Harry crouched behind an armchair in the common room. It was late at night and the room was empty except for a fifth year boy who had fallen asleep at one of the desks. Harry would admit that he was disappointed what he was about to do hadn't occured to him before.

Across the common room, Hedwig and Crookshanks watched with amusement as Harry, in his animagus form, moved from shadow to shadow. Being sneaky wasn't really needed since no one else was awake at this time of night, but Crookshanks understood that it was good practice, not to mention fun. Hedwig just hoped he would grow out of it; she half-expected him to start singing his own theme music.

The real test for Harry came at the entrance to the girls staircase—he was worried that the charms would still recognize him as a male human and sound the alarm. Quickly, he scurried up the first few stairs. No alarms, no bright lights. It worked!

It only took him a minute to find Hermione and Luna curled up together on Hermione's bed. Ringo was asleep on her trunk, his little legs twitching as he dreamed. Harry jumped onto the bed and walked between the girls. He reached out and batted at Hermione's nose.

"Crookshanks, let me sleep," Hermione mumbled. Two more attempts resulted in similar outcomes, so he moved onto Luna.

She was far more receptive and quickly woke up. "Well aren't you being clever? I suppose as a reward, you'll get to sleep with us tonight. Though you'll have to stay as a cat the whole time."

Harry considered it for a moment. He had hoped to change back, but the risk probably wasn't worth it right then. He nodded and curled up between them; it was all he could do not to purr when Luna began stroking his fur... Not that he tried hard to resist.

Despite the scolding Harry got from Hermione the next morning, he thought it was well worth it.

0-0

It was only a few days before Halloween when Slughorn managed to catch the three of them between classes. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. A good afternoon to all of you. If you have a moment, I would like to invite you to a small gathering I'm having on Halloween before the feast."

"Eh… Sorry professor Slughorn, but we've, er… already agreed to help Nearly-Headless Nick with his Deathday party." Harry blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh, well yes a Deathday party is something to see. Perhaps another time." Slughorn couldn't keep the disappointment from his face. He thought for sure he would have them. However, he took solace in the fact that there was really no way for him to have predicted that they would be invited to a Deathday party. Still it was frustrating. But he had several more years, so he could be patient. Perhaps he could invite them to a Christmas party in a few weeks? One held before the students left so they wouldn't have other commitments, obviously.

He had just returned to his rooms to prepare for his next class when Madam Hooch came knocking at his door. "Hello my dear, what can I do for you?"

"Well I find myself in need of a few difficult potions and was hoping that you would consent to brewing them for me." Madam Hooch handed over a short list.

Slughorn nodded as he looked it over. It was common practice for other professors to ask him for potions from time to time. Just the week before he had made several for Minerva, though she claimed they were for a friend. He didn't judge though, at her age a pick-me-up was perfectly understandable. "I can make them, though I'll need to get ingredients that aren't at the school."

"Of course; I'll pay for them. Oh, and the library just got another donation. I thought you might like this." Madam Hooch passed over a Charms book. _Shadow of the light: Dark Charms_.

It was common when a former student died that they left some books to Hogwarts, even if they still had family. When she had first joined the Hogwarts staff, Hooch had been shocked that many of the professors took first pick among donations... Until it was explained to her that many of the books were too advanced or dark for the students. Madam Pince had a private collection that rivaled the library proper, amassed by centuries of librarians before her. It was also common that whoever got there first would take a few books the other professors might be interested in for trade. Several years before Slughorn had traded her a book on American broom enchantments to give personal flying lessons to a few students. All of them had joined his club and gone on to become professional Quidditch players.

Over the years that Slughorn had been gone Madam Hooch had kept an eye out for books he might find interesting, for those occasions that she still needed a complicated potion. _Shadow Of Light_ was one such tome.

"This will do nicely. I should have the potions ready in ten days," Slughorn said.

"Thank you." Madam Hooch smiled as she walked back down the corridor.

Unseen by either of them, Filch lurked just around the corner. He wore a twisted smile as he hurried to the library and straight into Madam Pince's office behind the reference desk. Scattered around the room were piles of books being sorted. "Ma'am, a couple of students are tossing books in the hallway. Might you see to them?"

The librarian snorted but hurried to deal with the students. Filch laughed as she left. _Works_ _every time_.

He hurried over and looked through the pile of books considered too dark for the students and too distasteful for the faculty. He stuffed several of them into his robes where an Expansion Charm let them fit into a hidden pocket. He'd just had to complain to Flitwick once to get the charm added. All the faculty were so predictable, always so eager to help the poor Squib. Oh he couldn't wait until he finally found the ritual he was looking for. When he was but a child he had heard of a ritual that let one person transfer magic to another. That was why he had stayed at Hogwarts all these years. Sooner or later a book with that ritual would pass through and he'd take it, then drain a student or two and become a proper wizard.

And then... He laughed maniacally at his plans. They'd all suffer. They thought Voldemort was bad, well just wait until they saw him! He had spent decades taking the darkest books, practicing the spells with a bunch of confiscated wands. He knew them by heart. As soon as he got magic he'd be one of the most powerful wizards ever!

A final check for any other interesting books and he left before he was caught. Maybe he'd get lucky and find the ritual in one of these very books he had filched. Or one to turn Mrs. Norris into a proper woman; he _was_ a bit lonely since he'd been banned from the Care of Magical Creatures class.

0-0

After their run in with Slughorn, the trio decided it would be best to find Nearly Headless Nick and see if they could go to his Deathday party. Neither Harry nor Hermione was particularly thrilled about the idea, but it would still be preferable to Slughorn trying to pursue Harry's fame. It helped that Luna found the idea fascinating and begged that they go. She had been put out when she had learned that there had been a Deathday party her first year, yet she had missed it.

It didn't take long to find the Gryffindor ghost. "Sir Nick."

"Ah hello Mr. Potter," Nick said cheerfully. "Is there something I can do for all of you?"

"Well…" Hermione explained what had occurred. "And we were hoping that you wouldn't object to us attending your Deathday party so that we can avoid Slughorn."

Nick nodded. "Yes, he can be a bit pushy. Well, I would be delighted for the three of you to attend my party. Although you might find it a bit boring."

"Thank you." Luna beamed a wide smile. "I'm sure it will be fascinating. I've always wanted to see a Deathday party."

"In that case, I look forward to seeing you there," Nick said.

With their immediate errand finished, the three spent the rest of their free time in the Room of Requirements. It was interesting to see the history of Hogwarts laid before them; items from the past thousand years had been put into the room by the castle's elves, although a large amount of it was broken furniture. At some point in the past a professor had instructed the elves to store any broken furniture to be used when the Repair Charm was taught. Since Hathfojd had been interested in them completely clearing out the room, Dobby was tasked with moving the broken furniture to other, unused classrooms. Thankfully, the elves could tell the different between trash and other things. Otherwise, Harry was sure, that they'd be drowning in unfinished homework assignments and crumpled parchments. While the room was at one time supposed to act as a lost and found for the school, it appeared that it had never moved beyond storage.

The girls were currently fondling the latest stack of books they had gathered from among the broken furniture. Hermione caressed the spin of an ancient-looking book in a surprisingly sensual manner. Luna, who would normally have pointed this out, was engrossed in a twelfth century book on magical animals. Harry knew that there wasn't much point in trying to get their attention, so he returned to sorting through a pile of swords. They were of all shapes and conditions, from apparently fine to rusted and broken. A few seemed to be enchanted and he moved them off to the side for Hermione and Luna to look over, yet another research project for them. He secretly suspected they had some kind of family magic that allowed them to quickly find information.

In a corner was a stack of armor pieces. Hauberks, shields and bracers were mixed in amongst shirts, corslets and other, various miscellany. He didn't think that there was a complete suit among the pile, but he had a few ideas for them. Matching armor wouldn't matter to some of the golems he planned to make to help guard Potter Manor.

When they were finished, Dobby took everything they had decided to keep that day back to the manor.

0-0

Voldemort looked down at his three basilisks, they had digested their first meal and were ready to start learning to hunt. He felt that Halloween would be the perfect time for them to enter the castle proper. It had been the day that his main part was defeated and would be the day that the wizards and witches, or at least the students of Britain, learned to fear him again.

His plans for his host were progressing slowly, but he wanted to insure his host was as strong as possible before he took that power for his new body. True, he should have hurried and then gone to locate his main part; that part, however, had fallen to a child—twice if the rumors were true about the previous year.

Yes his main part could wait and stew a bit longer. It deserved that much for failing so spectacularly. When he went to retrieve his main part, he would do so with three basilisks and having killed Harry Potter. Not that it would matter when they merged back together, but it would show the main part how far it had allowed itself to fall and hopefully return him to his proper place.

_{{Wake my children, tonight you shall hunt for the first time.}}_ Voldemort stroked each basilisk as they rose from their slumber. They obediently followed him towards the heavily warded door. Each was eager to do his, Lord Voldemort's, bidding. Each was eager to see what lay beyond their small nest. Each was eager to hunt for their first kill. To taste the flesh of their prey... That was their purpose.

0-0

The Deathday party was just like Harry and Hermione remembered it. Luna was having a grand time seeing ghosts that she hadn't meet the first time through, either because they rarely interacted with the students or because they haunted places outside the castle. Things continued almost exactly as they had the first time until the Headless Hunt arrived and Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore made a comment about them being there to convince him how scary Nick was.

"Why would we do that?" Luna asked in a fake, overly sweet voice. "I'm sure Nicholas could be scary if he wanted to, but instead he spends his death helping the students of Hogwarts. Personally, I think that is a wonderful thing to do? When was the last time you did something worthwhile? Do you have a small penis?"

If headless ghosts could choke to death, several of the Hunt would have keeled over right then. Patrick stared in disbelief at that little girl who would dare to ask such a question: children these days should all be tossed into the pig pens until they learned manners. "What?!"

"Well I heard that people with a small penis tend to fixate on playing with their head, which you seem to like to do. You've been waving it around since you got here. Also you seem to be overcompensating for something and have been very rude. This is Sir Nicholas's Deathday party, yet you arrive and try to draw everyone's attention to yourself. Either you lack manners or you don't care because you crave the attention to make up for some other _shortcoming_." Luna explained this in the flat voice she reserved for dealing with annoying, yet dumb, people.

"I have never been spoken to in such a manner!" Patrick roared. He waved his head in Luna's face. "I have a good mind to see you turned into a ghost so that I can throttle you."

The ghosts gasped; Patrick had basically threatened to kill someone just so he could torment their spirit. Such a thing was taboo among the dead and reserved for their worst enemies. Nick surged forward and drew his sword. Where he had gotten the sword is anyone's guess. With the flat of his blade, he slapped Patrick's head from his hands. It flew across the room and landed among a pile of rotting fish. Nick then kicked Patrick's body from his horse and faced down the rest of the Hunt. "These mortals are here under my protection! Any who seeks to harm them shall face me. Have you forgotten the high ideas of our time? Our honor? If this is what the Hunt does, then I can not state how glad I am that I was rejected from your group."

"Thank you Sir Nicholas," Luna said with a warm smile.

"Think nothing of it my dear." Nick turned back to the still stunned Hunt. "Now, I believe your welcome has ended. Leave."

Most of the Hunt seemed to be ready to do just that, except for three who moved forward. They openly glared at Nick while Patrick called out to his body as it tried to find him. No one knew why he was having such trouble since he had easily been able to control it before without his head being attached. Luna suspected it was because Moaning Myrtle had shoved his head deeper into the fish so he couldn't see.

The three ghosts placed their heads under their arms and rested a hand on their own swords. "And what if we do not wish to leave?"

The other house ghosts moved forward to stand with Nick. Before they could come to blows however, Peeves soared in through the ceiling, grabbed the sword from Patick's still searching body and skewed the three ghosts heads. He possessed a surprising grace as he spun between them and collected their heads. He then flew back through the ceiling laughing. The ghosts bodies immediately in pursuit. The poltergeist cackled as he flew into the Great Hall and led the three headless ghosts on a chase around the room, before giving the sword a flick and sending their heads flying onto Dumbledore's plate of Spotted Dick with hot custard.

By the time they had retrieved their heads, Peeves had escaped and Dumbledore's desert had turned into a cold soggy and completely unappetizing mess.

Back at the party, Sir Nicholas and the other ghosts had made sure the Headless Hunt left and knew that such behavior would not be tolerated at Hogwarts. Nick turned and bowed to Luna. "Thank you, Miss Lovegood for speaking up for me. I apologize for the actions of…"

"You should not apologize for those you can't control. He was being rude and I simply told him so," Luna said.

"Eh, well still, thank you. I do believe this has been the most exciting Deathday party Hogwarts has seen since the time the Fat Friar attempted to convince us all to play a game he invited called naked dragon hunting," Nick went on. He didn't mention that they had in fact played the game for several hours and only stopped when the headmaster of the time had ordered them to.

"Think nothing of it good sir; after all this is your party and it should not be ruined by those who lack common courtesy," Luna replied as she gave her own bow to him.

After the Headless Hunt had left, the party became, for lack of a better term, more lively. The ghosts chatted happily with each of them, recounting stories from both life and death. It was much more enjoyable than either Harry or Hermione remembered, and they actually found themselves enjoying their evening.

0-0

Voldemort had made his way up to the ground floor along with the basilisks. They had avoided areas where they might run into anyone. At their current size, the basilisks wouldn't have been able to kill a first year with their gaze. A cat would be their limit, but that would do for now. The magic he was using to increase their growth would take care of the rest soon enough.

The only snag was that there didn't seem to be any pets out that evening. What was wrong with these children? When he had been a student, the halls had been filled with worthless creatures. The night was turning into a disappointment.

Crookshanks stalked along the hallways invisible; he had smelled something new, something earthy, dark and malevolent... snakes. He decided to investigate. After all, if they couldn't see him, their gaze wouldn't affect him. Wait was that right? _He_ could still see them. And if it did affect him, then he'd be petrified or dead _and_ invisible. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He reappeared as he considered what to do next.

He was about to turn around when he realized that one of the scents was coming from behind him. He was trapped. Crookshanks spun to try and find a hiding spot, an alcove where he could turn invisible again and remain hidden.

There was a flash of yellow eyes reflected in the dulled suit of armor and Crookshanks knew no more.

_{{I have found prey!}}_ the basilisk hissed excitedly. It wondered, if it could eat the whole thing, how much of it was fur?

_{{What have you caught?}}_ Voldemort asked as he and the others approached.

_{{A cat! I can eat it now right?}}_ The basilisk asked excitedly.

_{{A moment.}}_ His host's memories showed that this particular feline belonged to Potter's Mudblood. This was a chance to send a powerful message that even being close to him was no protection. _{{You have done well, but there is a better use for this pathetic creature.}}_

It was only the work of moments to hang the cat near a message that he painted on the wall. The spell to make blood had so many uses.

0-0

The trio had left the party and decided to discreetly check near Myrtle's bathroom to make sure nothing had happened. The wards they had left in the Chamber of Secrets hadn't been tripped, so there shouldn't be any problems. Yet, after everything that had happened, they were worried that time had found another way.

It had.

They came around a corner near the Great Hall, heading towards seldom-used stairs that went from the dungeons to the fourth floor when Hermione screamed. Hanging from the wall near a bloody message... was Crookshanks.

Harry cursed under his breath; he could already hear the rushing feet and rumble of students coming to investigate Hermione's scream. Well this was going to be another mess. He crouched down next to Luna and a crying Hermione. "Petrified?"

"Yes," Luna answered because Hermione couldn't speak.

Ignoring the gathering crowd, Harry rubbed Hermione's back, trying to sooth her. "Don't worry, we'll have him fixed up soon."

"_Bad Blood Will Burn, Slytherin's Heir Returns."_ Nott read the message stained on the wall. "Mudbloods and blood traitors will finally be cleansed from Hogwarts."

"Harry what have you done!?" Dumbledore shouted in horror as he and several other professors hurried through the crowd of students.

Harry fought back a sigh. "Why do you assume I had anything to do with this? You have not investigated at all or spoken to me. You have no reason to think that I have done anything yet, unless you are only interested in getting me in trouble."

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall's shrill voice rang out. "You will not speak to the headmaster in such a manner! Twenty points from Hufflepuff and a further twenty for missing the feast." She hurried towards the group from the opposite direction that the students had come from.

"I wasn't aware that the Halloween feast was mandatory," Harry said calmly, hoping to keep the situation from getting out-of-hand.

"It is when you miss it to do this!" McGonagall gestured towards the wall.

Hermione was still cradling Crookshanks petrified form and had had enough. "If you had bothered to ask our head of house, you would know that we were at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party."

"That is correct," Sprout said. "I trust you will be returning those points?"

McGonagall's sour expression said that she wanted to do anything but. "He still should not have spoken to the Headmaster in such a way."

"But Dumbledore accused him of killing Granger's cat without even trying to find out what happened!" Someone shouted.

Lockhart had made his way to the center of the crowd and shook his head. "Horrible, just awful really. I've seen this curse before, nasty thing. The poor creature would have suffered greatly. It's a shame I didn't get here a bit sooner. I happen to know the exact counter-curse that could have saved it."

"Crookshanks isn't dead!" Hermione said firmly.

"Poor dear, maddened with grief." Lockhart gave his best frown, one meant to convey sadness and pity.

"And how do you know that he is not dead Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall's voice was surprisingly soft.

"He is my familiar, I'd know if he was dead." Hermione left no room for argument.

"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice rang out and demanded their attention. "All students will return to their common rooms, except for you Harry. You will come with me to my office and we will discuss this... this..."

"Professor Sprout, can we take Crookshanks to the hospital wing?" Luna asked sweetly.

"Of course."

Luna helped Hermione up and then hugged Harry. With her head turned away from Dumbledore she whispered, "Stall, I'll contact Sirius."

"Thanks."

0-0

As the girls left, Harry trudged after the professors and Dumbledore. He made sure to walk as slowly as possible, shuffling his feet despite Dumbledore storming down the corridors and ordering them to hurry.

"Are you all right?" Sprout asked as they brought up the rear of the possession.

"Just worried for Hermione and Crookshanks. Do you think Madam Pomfrey will be able to help him?" Harry asked; this seemed like the perfect time to 'learn' about the restorative draught.

"If he really is petrified, then yes. However, that would require restorative draught and that's not something kept in stock. But don't worry we can make it." Sprout informed him cheerfully.

"How long will it take to make?"

"Not long. However, we would have to wait for the mandrakes to mature, which will take until late spring."

"Couldn't we buy them somewhere?" Of course he already knew that they could. They had checked into it over the summer, just in case.

"Yes. I suppose that would be better, and certainly faster, though I doubt the board of governors would agree to spending the money for a mature mandrake."

"That won't be a problem," Harry assured her as they reached the headmaster's office. He wasn't surprised when they stepped in and found the others waiting for them along with Molly. "I assume Sirius and Judge Cortus will be joining us shortly?"

"Regrettably I was unable to reach either of them and this matter is far too important to delay due to guardians who can't be bothered," Dumbledore said in his, supposedly most soothingly, granfatherly, yet disappointed voice.

As if just to spite him, the fire flared green and Sirius's head appeared in it. "Good, you're in. I wanted to talk with you about... What's going on?"

"Couldn't reach him?" Harry did his best to hold in his laughter. "Hey Sirius, Dumbledore think I'm going around attacking cats but it's too important to bother calling you about."

After that Dumbledore was forced to open his floo and let Sirius through. As soon as Sirius had been told what happened he insisted that both Judge Cortus and Xeno were called as well. Reluctantly Dumbledore did so, his mind racing the entire time. He knew that despite being confronted with the proof that Harry was turning dark they wouldn't act. They'd rationalize it away somehow. They just couldn't see what he could and were too simple minded to understand what he did.

Just as he predicted once everyone was present and the situation was explained they were quick to grasp at straws. No one had seen Harry break any rule, no one had checked his wand, no one had asked anyone what happened. They just didn't understand!

Only Molly and McGonagall were willing to listening to him, even Sprout was more concerned with protecting her student than stopping Harry. Unfortunately as the meeting progressed he realized they would not allow him to do what was necessary, perhaps if they knew the full extent of what he knew they could be reasoned with. But their unwillingness to work with him showed that they weren't trust worthy.

But there were others that would listen to him. "Very well; because all of you are determined to allow Mr. Potter to get away with his crimes, I suppose that I have no choice in the matter."

"Come off it Albus, you have no proof that Harry did anything wrong," Sirius pointed out.

Dumbledore took a deep breath. They'd know soon enough that he had been correct and beg his forgiveness. Harry was not skilled enough to hide his actions forever, or perhaps there would be progress on finding James. That would be proof they could not reason away. Until then, until he was vindicated, he had to bite his tongue and chip away at Harry's image.

Before Dumbledore's thoughts could go further, a portrait announced two students to see him. "We are busy—send them away."

"They claim they are witnesses for Mr. Potter," the thin, early nineteenth century headmistress said.

With a huff, Dumbledore invited them in... and was almost entirely ignored while they spoke to Sirius and Xeno. Apparently, Madam Pomfrey _had_ confirmed that the cat was petrified. "You're in luck, as the school happens to be growing a batch of Mandrakes. They should be ready by the end of the school year."

"You expect Hermione to wait almost a year?" Sirius asked.

"There isn't a choice, the Mandrakes won't be ready until summer." Making the girl wait to have her familiar back was a small amount of revenge, and he could use any victory over these troublesome children and their high-minded guardians.

"Then buy the potion itself," Sirius said in a tone that suggested he felt this solution should have been obvious.

"I am afraid that we cannot do that," Dumbledore stated in an attempt to block them.

"Then I will," Sirius replied in a long-suffering, clearly pained voice.

"You can't," Dumbledore tried again.

"Sure I can; neither you nor the school have any reason to stop me."

"I agree as Hermione's magical guardian," Xeno added, though he didn't think it was strictly necessary.

"Fine! If you want to waste your money, then do so. _Now leave._ I have work to do in order to clean up Mr. Potter's mess." Dumbledore all but threw them from his office.

0-0

Professor Sprout escorted them back to the Hufflepuff common room and made sure the other students understood that Harry had been cleared of any wrong doing. Harry was touched by the effort she put forward—it was something McGonagall certainly had never done in the old timeline.

There were still a number of people who had questions for Harry and the girls, but they managed to claim they were tired and each went to bed. They made sure to ward the curtains surrounding each bed so that, if anyone decided to bother them, they'd suddenly find something else to do. That finished, they snuck to the Room of Requirement and spent the night investigating the Chamber of Secrets, the spot where they found Crookshanks and anywhere else they could think of. None yielded any results as to how there was a basilisk inside Hogwarts. The only thing they learned was that Slytherin was still safe at Potter Manor and hadn't left.

A tired trio arrived early at the hospital wing to check on Crookshanks. Sirius had promised to send the potion along with Dobby as soon he could. Ringo wiggled out of Luna's arms onto the bed and began to press his head against Crookshanks, pushing like he did when he broke through wards.

"Oh Ringo." Luna scooped him back up. "He'll be fine soon."

"And hopefully he can shed some light on what happened." Harry mumbled. If Crookshanks couldn't tell them anything, they were sunk.

A few minutes after they arrived, a bright blue cat came streaking into the hospital wing and jumped onto Crookshank's bed. They watched as Pansy's cat Bluebell laid a dead rat in front of Crookshanks and then nudged it closer to his petrified face. Harry wondered when those two had gotten so chummy.

A panting Pansy and Draco soon came in as well; they looked as though they had been chasing Bluebell for some time. Pansy picked up the furry blue missile. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Hermione reached over and scratched behind Bluebell's ear. Ringo, not wanting to be left out of the attention wiggled free again and sniffed at Bluebell. The cat paced around him, examining the strange creature.

Harry stepped back and stood near Draco as the girls fawned over their pets. "Good morning Draco."

"Potter," acknowledged the blond. "So, that thing is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" Draco asked.

"Yep."

"I'm surprised she actually found one. It looks different than it's Quibbler card," replied the Slytherin.

"You play Quibbler cards?" Harry was surprised at this revelation.

"It's an interesting exercise in strategy. And a good investment. I have the original Crumple-Horned card; I imagine, if the game keeps expanding as it has been, that will be worth a small fortune someday. Pansy just likes the portraits. Who does them?"

"Luna paints all of them herself," Harry said, pride evident in his voice.

"She has talent, certainly more than the last person father hired to do a family portrait."

"Yes, Luna is amazing with a paintbrush," Harry agreed. "So, what are the rumors saying about me now?"

"What makes you think that you're important enough for a rumor?... Fine, most of the rumors say you attacked Granger's cat and are planning to kill off the Mudb-, sorry, Muggle-borns and blood traitors."

There was clear disdain, though not outright hatred, for the rumors there. _It's a work in progress_, Harry reminded himself.

Out loud he said, "Not unexpected. And what do you think of the rumors?" He could pretty well figure that out, but he wanted Draco to verbalize it for him.

"Started by an idiot and believed by the rest. Anyone with half a brain can see you would never attack Granger or her cat. Nor Muggle-borns. Personally, I don't think you'd have it in you to attack students like that either; you strike me more as a Gryffindor, charging in head-first," Draco admitted.

Harry had to admit that, while they weren't friends, being civil to Draco, so long as he was doing the same, was much better than how they had acted last time. "Gee thanks. So, naturally while most of Slytherin doesn't believe the rumors, they'll act like they do just because its me, right?"

"Correct," Draco said.

Time for a slight change of subject. "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

"Not much. I owled my father, but have yet to hear back from him. Not that I would tell you any more if I knew."

"Without a proper price," Harry finished with a smirk. "Should you come across any information, would you be open to negotiation?"

Draco smiled, pleased that Potter understood how things worked. "Of course."

The two Slytherins stayed until Dobby arrived with the restorative draught. Crookshanks was quickly revived and after Madam Pomfrey left, they asked him what happened.

_"I was stalking down the corridor when I smelled a snake, so I went after it. But then there were more and they were behind me. I saw yellow eyes reflected in a suit of armor and now I'm here,"_ Crookshanks reported, still a bit woozy.

The only other piece of information that he could provide, was that he had smelt an older female in the hall as well, although he hadn't seen her. He also couldn't give a better description beyond more than a few years older than Hermione. This meant they needed to check the older students for possession.

They were all relieved to have Crookshanks back. Ringo seemed determined to stay as close to Crookshanks as he could as they all headed to breakfast. Not long after they had sat down at the Hufflepuff table, Hedwig flew in and dropped a chunk of tuna in front of Crookshanks. She refused to say where she got it, only that it was fresh. They all wondered if there wasn't a very angry and confused fisherman somewhere.

When the Great Hall was mostly filled, Dumbledore stood and motioned for everyone's attention. "Good morning. As many of you know, there was an incident last night in which a cat was petrified through the use of dark magic. The matter is under investigation. However, due to certain technicalities, the main suspect remains unpunished and free." He made sure to watch Harry throughout his announcement so that everyone would know who he was talking about.

Susan leaned over to Luna. "Technicality?"

"He has no proof Harry did it and we have proof he didn't. Not that the Headmaster lets a little thing like facts or evidence change his mind," Luna said while animating tiny people made of grapes.

0-0

Tonks was walking down a corridor alone during a break from training when there was a bright flash of light. She dove for cover and raised a shield as had been taught, scanning the area for the source of the spell fire and other threats. Instead, she found a purple phoenix that seemed amused by her actions.

The phoenix dropped a letter in front of her. Keeping an eye on the impressive bird, Tonks checked the letter for magic. It came up clean, so she opened it. After a moment of reading, she stashed the letter in her pocket. "Alright, lets go."

The phoenix hopped onto her shoulder and they vanished from the corridor.

0-0

Harry and Hermione were heading to the library to meet with Luna when they were waylaid by Ron. "So, Potter, finally showing your true colors are you? Soon everyone will know that you're a dark lord. The only way Granger would stay with you was if you used potions or dark spells or whatever on her. Just more proof."

"Mr. Weasely." A dreaded voice spoke from behind them. They all spun and stared. Severus Snape stood glaring at them. "What are you doing wasting your time, Weasely. I'm sure you have essays to work on. Or studying; I dare say you need all the time you can get for anything to pass through the rock you call a head. Now, be on your way before I take points from your miserable house and give you a detention."

Ron nodded shakily before running down the corridor.

Harry and Hermione palmed their wands, ready for a fight. Instead, Snape nodded to them. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, if you will excuse me, I have a slug infestation in my quarters to take care of."

They watched as Snape strolled down the corridor, passing a skipping Luna. "Hello."

"Luna, what... you had something to do with whatever is going on don't you," Hermione asked. She thought she understood Luna, she really did. But, once again, Luna had proved her wrong.

"Well, Dumbledore angered me, so I thought this would be a nice way to repay him. He'll be confused and chasing ghosts for a while now. Also Weasely spent the last twenty minutes working up the nerve to confront you Harry." Luna explained.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Tonks," Luna replied with a smile.

0-0

Dumbledore had just sat down for dinner when Ronald Weasely burst in, looking as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. He managed to gasp out a single word before he fell to the floor" panting. "Snape."

Confused, Dumbledore scanned his mind and recoiled as if struck. Severus was alive? He had to be! Polyjuice potion wouldn't work if the person you were changing into was dead. He leapt up and was halfway out of the Great Hall before anyone had even managed to check on Ron.

Hurrying to the spot where Ron had seen Snape, he found Harry and Hermione, both looking shell-shocked. "Sir, we just saw Professor Snape and... and..."

Dumbledore risked a glance in their minds. They were so shocked that their mental shields were vulnerable. He saw that Mr. Weasely was, in fact, correct; Severus had been in the castle and was heading for the dungeons.

Harry and Hermione held back their laughter until Dumbledore was out of sight. That had been too easy. They had just needed to shove the memories they wanted him to see in front of their shields. They hurried down to dinner, still chuckling, meeting up with Luna just before the Great Hall.

0-0

(A/N: Rumors of my death were exaggerated but perhaps would have been kinder. A large thank you to Writinbydark and Katzztar for taking this chapter from a mess to something readable. As always thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed. Also, I really am sorry that this chapter took so long to get out.)


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